On Wings of Fire
by Aiumi
Summary: Books and bandits, seishi and sorcery...a midnight drive through Tokyo leads one girl into more than she bargained for.
1. Chapter One

This work of fiction, although begun over a year previously, has been revamped slightly and tightened for your reading pleasure. The plot is not largely different, but the structure of the writing itself should be better. I do not plan to let this work die, and hopefully will have new chapters soon. 

As usual, this branches from the canon at episode 26 and contains spoilers for everything thereafter. One will probably have to have seen the episodes being branched from in order to get what is going on.

On Wings of Fire

**~One~**

**Some Days are Diamonds, Some Days are Rocks**

Aiumi leaned lazily forward, elbows resting on the steering wheel, enjoying the hectic beauty of the city at night. Lights reflected sharply off her car's sleek black hood. 

The traffic light blinked green and Aiumi floored the gas, enjoying the feeling of freedom and reckless abandon. She rounded a corner, and the National Library loomed before her. 

Something caught her eye as she drove past the building, perhaps just a flash of red, the flick of a tail. Intrigued as to what might have disappeared around the building, she swerved into the back parking lot.

Pitch blackness met her curious eyes. The library was long closed by now, the building dead, all the lights off this late at night. Even the watchmen had gone home. But _something _was there, she was sure of it. Unbuckling her seat belt with a click, she scooted over to the passenger seat. Peering out if the window expectantly, she suddenly felt an ominous stirring in her stomach, almost as if something were behind her.

Ever so slowly, she turned her head to face the other window…

Nothing was there.

She sighed, grinning, and flipped her head nonchalantly back to the passenger side window. Staring through the glass a half-inch away from her nose was a white tiger.

With a yelp of surprise and fear, she scooted back to the driver's seat. The tiger made no move, only stared at her with its powerful, liquid blue eyes. It blinked once, lazily.

Whimpering slightly, Aiumi turned her head away, to stare directly into the face of a great scarlet-red bird perched on the hood of her car.

She screamed in earnest this time, cutting the silence like a knife, and broke into hysteric tears, willing herself to awake from this nightmare.

Blinking through her tears, Aiumi dimly saw the bird alight from the car with an angry cry and swoop at the tiger, talons outstretched. The tiger snarled and jumped at the bird. The two animals collided and rolled away into the blackness.

Aiumi shakily opened the car door, grabbing a flashlight off of the floor, swinging her backpack over her shoulder, and stepped out into the night. She could faintly hear the sounds of the fighting animals in the distance, echoing as if they were indoors. She shined her flashlight around to see the back entrance to the library smashed open, the wood splintered.

She ducked through the opening, her silvery-blond hair falling wildly about her face. The library halls sprawled like catacombs around her, echoing only with faint growls and squawks. She jogged toward the noises as quietly as she could.

The great staircase of the library was at the end of her journey. The huge bird was feverishly beating its wings in the tiger's face, compromising the tiger's vision and blocking the flames that seemed to stem from the tiger's body. Slowly, the tiger backed up the stairs, submitting to its stronger adversary. It bowed low, hiding its face against the floor, as if in surrender, and turned to pad up the rest of the flight of stairs, followed by the bird.

Aiumi followed slowly, watching the animals slip through a door into a reference room at the top of the stairs. She sighed, turning to leave, when a yell echoed down from the same room the animals had entered.

She burst through the door, panting slightly. An old book was sprawled on the floor, pages hanging open. A few feet away was the person who had dropped it. 

"Keisuke!"

"Aiumi!"

Keisuke stared. She was the last person who he would have expected to come bursting in here. 

They had been inseparable, the perfect couple, for almost three months. And then, only two weeks earlier, they had ended it. 

He had to admit, it was partially his fault. They had just gradually drifted apart, and he hadn't done anything to stop it. 

He looked at her, standing there in front of him, panting after her run up the stairs. Jeans, tank top, jacket, the same old Aiumi. The same eyes that flicked from green to gray to blue to almost purple in a matter of seconds in different moods. The same passionate, determined, defiant energy radiating from her. He had known her forever, but why did he feel as if she were a complete stranger?

Aiumi broke the stare first. "What are you doing here? What happened?"

"It…just…nothing, just reading. There was something…" Not entirely true. Keisuke was both trying to hide his confusion over why the book had exploded in heat and light in his hands and the fact that the book was much more than just a book.

"What's with the book?" She reached toward it.

"Aiumi, DON'T!" Too late. The book exploded in light, and Aiumi began to dissolve.

"Keisuke, help me!" Her eyes wide with horror, she struggled against the ancient pull of the Universe of the Four Gods, throwing out her hand to him. He grabbed it and hung on for dear life.

_Come, kodora, don't be afraid…_Another voice, neither hers nor Keisuke's, enveloped her, deep and powerful, filled with strength and calm, making her go limp. Her hand slipped out of Keisuke's, and she was gone.

Keisuke kneeled by the book, hardly believing the events of the last minute, clutching the last evidence of Aiumi's being there…a ring that had slipped off of her finger as easily as the book had taken her. The pages of The Book of the Universe of the Four Gods turned lazily, as if stirred by an unseen wind, to a page Keisuke had never seen before.

Reluctantly, he began to read. "Suddenly, another girl entered the universe…."

**End of Chapter One**

Authors Note: One of my main failings in this chapter is that Aiumi, who is seventeen, would not actually be able to drive a car in Japan. The youngest you can be and have a license is eighteen. 


	2. Chapter Two

This fic is rated R for language. I will not asterisk-out any swearing. 

**~Two~**

**Don't Know Just What I Said Wrong, But Girl, I Apologize**

Flashed of dark and light, colors, and shadows swirled around her, dizzying, terrifying. She struggled against the pulling once again, woken from the voice's spell. _Do not struggle, please. I beg you to come to me, accept me…_ She relaxed again, calmed by the soothing words.

A figure stood silently by the water, the ocean lapping softly at its feet. 

Fists suddenly clenched, eyes scowled, teeth grimaced, revealing fang-like canines. A soft growl echoed slightly. "Rrrgh….I have to beat this!!!"

Coat, boots, shirt, and tessen flipped harmlessly to the ground, flopping into a pile.

Tasuki stood, knee deep in the water, shivering, too scared and cold to go further. "Shit. It's freezing…" 

Aiumi was suddenly plunged into the world again, her horrible journey ended. Something was wrong. She glanced downward, realizing she was sitting fifteen feet in the air- above water.

Tasuki glanced upward, eyes locking momentarily with the girl's.

"GYAAAAAAAHHH!!!!"

"KYAAAAAAHH!!!"

Aiumi fell in for a splash landing, sending a wave of cold water over Tasuki. Tasuki jumped convulsively backwards, landing on a tree branch, even more scared than before, and soaking wet. 

"WHAT THE HELL DID YA DO THAT FOR????"

"YOU THINK I COULD HELP IT? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE THE FUCK I AM!!!" 

Aiumi fished herself out of the water, more than a little pissed at life. Shrugging off her waterlogged leather jacket, she sat dejectedly on a rock and ran her fingers through her wet hair. 

She noticed something weird. Staring at her right hand, she murmured, "Only one ring…Keisuke…" 

She glanced up, on the verge of hysterics. It had been eleven at night back home; here the sun wasn't even beginning to set. There was no sign of Keisuke, or any civilization whatsoever. 

Tasuki jumped to the ground, frowning. Somehow, this girl had come out of nowhere, thoroughly soaked him with freezing cold water, and was now ignoring him. He walked toward the rock she was sitting on.

Aiumi glanced upward. She frowned for a moment, then silently grabbed the hand he offered her and allowed herself to be helped up. 

"I DON'T need your help, fang-boy!"

"Fine with me! Find the way back yerself! AND DON'T CALL ME FANG-BOY, DAMMIT!!!" Tasuki whirled, and stalked back toward the palace.

Aiumi watched him go for a moment, and grabbed her stuff, heading in a different direction. 

Fortunately, it's pretty hard to miss the royal palace of Kounan. Aiumi finally got through the gate into the gardens, slumping to the ground in exhaustion.

"Hello!"

Aiumi glanced around her, spotting a small boy sitting on a bench ten feet or so away, a huge book resting across his knees. His hair was light brown, fixed in a ponytail that stuck straight up. He stood, revealing himself to be impossibly short, making the effect even cuter than it already was.

"I am Chiriko. Tell me, how have you come to find the palace of Kounan?" 

"I…I don't know. Where is Kounan?"

_How strange, a traveler not even knowing the country she is in…and such unusual clothes! Wait, could she have come from another world? Perhaps the same one as Miaka? But…how is that possible? _"Kounan is the Southern territory in the Universe of the Four Gods, protected by the god of truth and beauty, Suzaku, the scarlet phoenix. But never mind that, miss, how have you come to find this place? Certainly not by the normal means of travel…?"

"No, it was a book, I don't know exactly what happened, but there was a tiger and a…I guess it was a phoenix, and something pulled me in…a voice."

_Ah, so she does come from another world! _"Miss, do you perhaps know a 15-year-old girl by the name of Miaka?"

"Yes! My bo- a friend of mine has a younger sister by that name. And he was reading the book I went through…"

"Ah! Well, then, I expect the emperor will allow you to stay here. I will talk to him, and meanwhile, I will find you a room where you can go to dry off…What is your name, miss?"

"Aiumi. Aiumi Tsuyoi."

"Very well then, Aiumi, follow me."

Aiumi glanced down at the kid, a couple of heads shorter than herself, his ponytail bouncing slightly as he walked. She grinned, trying to keep from laughing, and shook her head.

_Hmm, what room should I give her? Well, Tasuki said he wouldn't be back for awhile, so I suppose there's no harm in it…I'll be back soon, anyway._

Ten minutes later, Aiumi brushed the last tangle out of her hair, which fell back into place now that it was dry. She grabbed her jeans off the bed and yanked them back on. She pulled on socks and her shoes, and grabbed her tank top to put it on.

Footsteps sounded in the hall. "Chiriko?"

Tasuki slammed through the door, both pissed at himself for getting lost, and extremely tired from hiking uphill most of the way. Aiumi was probably the last thing he needed to see right now.

Anyhow, both screamed rather loudly, and Aiumi finished pulling on her shirt rather fast. 

"DAMMIT, WHAT THE HELL ARE YA DOIN' IN HERE??? GIT OUT!!!!"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YA DOING IN MY ROOM??"

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT! CHIRIKO LET ME IN!!!"

Tasuki snapped. He was exhausted, disgruntled, and tired of yelling at this girl. "DAMMIT, I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YER SHIT! LEKKA---"

He wasn't actually going to fry her, just scare her enough to leave him alone. He hadn't counted on her reflexes being good enough to grab his wrist in midair, preventing him from finishing the incantation without setting the roof on fire.

She flicked his arm aside, the tessen slipping out of his grip and slithering across the floor.

With Tasuki disarmed and defeated, the room fell deathly silent. The two stared directly into each other's eyes, Tasuki's conveying disbelief, fear, and even awe, Aiumi's spewing pure Hate Rays™.

She smoothly collected her jacket and backpack/purse and pushed out of the room past him without another glance, going with her instinct to get out of this place as fast as she could before she exploded. _It's amazing what a couple years of afterschool martial arts training can do for you, _she thought, trying to find the silver lining of the little poofy stormcloud forming over her head.

She walked on, not thinking, not feeling. She finally stopped and looked back. Nothing. Just a stretch of dusty road. Gods, it was bad enough she'd given up her only hope of shelter in this strange place to anger, a simple quarrel. _Wasn't that the way it was with Keisuke?, _her conscience chided. _Just face it, you're afraid of conflict._

Her stomach wrenched with sadness and she slumped to the ground, fighting tears. _IwontcryIcan'tcryIwon'tIwon'tIwon't…I'm crying…_

She grimaced, brushing the tears away angrily. She hugged her knees tightly, even until her knuckles were white with the force of her grip. Then she went limp, tired of fighting the losing battle against tears.

Tasuki grabbed the tessen angrily, clenching and unclenching his fists. He finally sighed and sat down, yanking off his boots. Alone with the silence, his thoughts invaded every corner of his brain. 

_Women…she'll probably be back within five minutes. Who does she think she is anyway, messing with the great Tasuki…_

_You started it, y'know…_

_'Ay, what're ya doing here? I didn't think I had a conscience!_

_::sigh:: That's what they all say…anyway, you know she's hurting, and it is your fault…_

_Yeah, right…go away, I don't need yer stupid comments…_

_Sorry, pal, I'm here to stay until you go and do the right thing._

_And what if I don't?_

Instantly, images of the girl being beaten, hurt, sold into slavery, and worse flashed into his mind, each more disturbing than the last.

_Damn. I shoulda known this would happen…_

_Well, you know what ya gotta do, then._

Within seconds, Tasuki was heading out the way Aiumi had gone.

_'Ay, how am I supposed ta know where she went?_

_Don't worry about it. With a conscience like me, you'll know._

_Now you're really starting ta scare me…_

_Hey, I am you, so knock it off with the insults, here!_

"Damn, I've gotta be goin' nuts or something…" He jogged off into the distance.

He soon spotted the huddled form on the roadside and skidded to a halt. Wondering how he could possibly even talk civilly to her, not to mention apologize, he knelt softly beside her. 

_Now what the hell do I do?_

_Well, for one thing, no cussing. Don't worry, I'll make sure you don't make too big a fool of yourself._

_Geez, even my conscience is out ta get me…_

Biting his lip, he laid a hand softly on her shoulder. She didn't look up, but at least she didn't shrug him off, either.

"Hey…look, I'm sorry…for everything I said and did…I was a jackass and I don't blame ya if ya don't forgive me…but…"

He stood, back to her, head hanging, truly ashamed now that he realized how much he'd hurt her. "…It's not safe out here…please, come back…"

Silence.

_Turn around, you idiot!_

_All right, all right!_

_Darn it, you're too slow. I'll take it from here._

_'Ay, what the hell are ya doing??_

Tasuki no longer had control over his own actions, his control-freak of a conscience having taken over.

A hand rested lightly on his forearm, and Tasuki turned around.

_Damn it, I want a new conscience!_

_Too late, buddy, you're stuck with me._

Ayumi had stood up, ready to forgive him, but instead burst out laughing at the expression on Tasuki's face as he regained control of himself.

"'Ay, what's so funny??"

"Gomen! Gomen! Calm down…"

A minute later…

"Look, let's just forget all of this, start over like we just met, ok?"

"Fine with me." He grinned. "Hi, I'm Tasuki, nice to meet you." 

"I'm Aiumi."

They shook hands.

Back in the library, Keisuke read, "And from that moment on, the two former enemies were resolved to become friends…"

**End of Chapter Two**


	3. Chapter Three

**~Three~**

**No Courage to Show My True Colors That Exist**

Chiriko was having a rough day. The emperor had requested an audience with the strange girl who had arrived, and yet, when Chiriko had run to get her, she was gone without a trace! 

Thoughts flicked through his head as he scrambled around the palace grounds. She could have simply headed on her way again, or perhaps she had been taken back to her own world. But could she have been a spy from Kouto? Or even…an assassin? No, it simply wasn't possible…was it?

Talking voices could be heard at the gate to the gardens. Chiriko ran toward them, sighing in relief as he recognized Aiumi and Tasuki. "Miss Aiumi, your presence is requested immediately with His Highness. Please, come at once."

"It's okay, kid, I'll take 'er there." Tasuki smiled warmly.

"Thank you, Tasuki."

Chiriko sighed, letting the heavy law book slip off of his knees onto the grass. Resting his chin on his hands, he stared out across the ocean, wondering where the ship was now. He wished he was on it with the whole of his short little heart. But he did have an obligation to his family…the examinations were only a few weeks away. He had to study as hard as he could.

Letting his mind wander from the musty laws of the country, he thought about the events of the last few days, one in particular…

He had been sitting on his favorite garden bench, studying in the peace of the early afternoon. Nothing unusual. 

All of a sudden, hoofbeats rose out of nowhere, and a trail of rising dust could be seen over the garden wall. He rushed out to see who had stopped at the palace.

"Onee-san!"

"It's Akiame, little brother. You don't need to be so formal with me!"

She was tall, dressed in simple riding clothes, declining the robes that most of the people from his family chose to wear, her dark hair pulled into a loose bun at the back of her neck, wisps of it falling out after the dusty ride. Akiame was his favorite sibling, probably because she didn't treat him like he was anyone special or a genius. She was just there to be his older sister whenever he needed her; funny, loving, and a good friend. 

"Does Mother know you're here? Why have you come?"

"She doesn't, Dou-chan, but you must listen to what I have to say."

"All right, Aki-chan…but aren't you going to put Jirou in the stables first?" Akiame was known for being meticulous about caring for her horses. 

"No, little brother, I only have a few minutes…Mother is coming, she'll stop at nothing to stop you from going on the voyage to Hokkan."

"What?…"

"Don't worry, I'll explain. Her heart is set on seeing you pass the examinations while she is still alive…I trust you're mature enough to face the fact that Mother is weak, even if she'll never stoop to show it. Please, Dou-chan, stay here at the palace and study…for all our sakes. We all want to see you succeed." She smiled, if a tad wanly, and hugged him tightly. 

He hugged her back, tears forming at the corners of his eyes, knowing he'd not see her or talk to her for many months to come. "Aki-chan…"

She smiled again at the childlike simplicity of his words. "Little brother, please take everything I've said into account…if for nothing, stay for the good of upholding our family's honor…and now, I must leave you…Mother will have my head if she knows I've been gone!"

"Good-bye, onee-san, and good luck!"

"You too! I'll visit as soon as I can!"

And with a final grin and a wave of her hand, she was off, galloping off as fast as she could.

Chiriko blinked, noticing the sun disappearing below the horizon. He picked up the tome from the ground and walked back to the palace. 

A few hours earlier, Tasuki and Aiumi walked down the airy halls of the palace toward Emperor Hotohori's throne room.

"Damn, I'm nervous…" Aiumi smiled self-consciously, rolling her eyes.

"Don't worry about it. Our beloved emperor is a little too vain for his own good, if ya know what I mean…just flatter him a little, and he'll let ya do anything. Trust me," Tasuki smirked.

The guards to the throne room door crossed their lances menacingly before the duo. "We were instructed to let only the girl enter."

Tasuki turned to Aiumi. "I'll wait out here."

Aiumi's heart sped up even more when the guards entered behind her, slamming the door in Tasuki's face. 

_Why the hell do they make all the scary places really big???_ she wondered, the emperor's throne over fifty feet away, the ceilings stretching high over her head. She gritted her teeth and walked forward, her footsteps echoing off of the flagstone floors. 

"Y-you wanted to see me, your highness?" she asked, kneeling before the throne. She looked up when it was proper to do so, and was suddenly startled by the general appearance of the emperor.

He was certainly not the imposing authority figure she had expected, in fact, he could not be more than a few years older than herself! His robes of royal red were embroidered sumptuously with gold and silver thread, but they paled visibly next the extreme, almost feminine, beauty of his face and features. The effect was one of ethereal splendor and elegance.

"Yes, I did…is anything wrong, miss?"

"No, it's just…this place is…you are…so beautiful."

He smiled, looking around at his surroundings adoringly. "Yes, I feel that surrounding oneself with beauty and elegance is…essential to governing a beautiful and prosperous country…"

"Guards, everything is all right here. You may return to your posts."

Once the guards were gone, the emperor addressed her directly. "Your name, miss?"

"Tsuyoi Aiumi." She answered, remembering the proper form of giving one's name. 

"Chiriko tells me you have perhaps been transported here from a world different than ours, is this correct?"

"I-I believe so, your highness."

"Yes-well, as it is getting late, I will give you a room here and we will talk more tomorrow…you may go. I will have a room prepared for you."

And Hotohori, being hard to write about anyway, was gone from the fic, content to stare at himself in the largest mirror in the land. 

Aiumi was glad to get out of there as fast as she could. 

**End of Chapter Three**


	4. Chapter Four

**~Four~**

**Left My Body Lying Somewhere in the Sands of Time**

Aiumi cheered up significantly at seeing Tasuki's familiar, if smug, face. 

"How'd it go?"

"Okay. I didn't screw up too badly."

"Hey, ya tried. I'm gonna go into town, get a drink."

"I'll come with you."

"Ya might not want to do that…Kounan's not all like this place. Ya don't want ta stand out too much."

"I'll be fine. Trust me."

"Okay, fine. Don't say I didn't warn ya."

_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea… _Aiumi glanced warily around her, wondering what was so intimidating about this place. It was just like any party or bar she'd ever been to with her friends; noisy, crowded, boisterous.

Tasuki had been right. Everyone did look kind of the same. 

She shook off her nervousness, laughing and talking with Tasuki over nothing in particular. 

Snippets of conversation reached her ears in the crowded atmosphere. Everyone around her seemed to be talking about some girl that was, as far as she could tell, somewhere in the immediate vicinity. She glanced around, wondering who it was they were talking about. 

She gasped slightly as she realized that there were virtually no other people of the female sex anywhere to be seen. Were they talking about her? 

"Something wrong?" Tasuki grinned, his clear amber eyes full of friendly laughter. She had to smile at how feral he looked, his orange-red hair falling across his forehead.

"No, nothing." She drained her bottle of sake, again reassured and nonchalant.

Suddenly, and unseen hand grabbed her by the hair, yanking her out of her seat roughly. She yelped in horror and pain as her arm was twisted behind her back.

Tasuki heard her scream, his hand instantly snatching the tessen from his bandolier, eyes burning with pure rage. His coat flapping around him ominously, he whirled around. 

Aiumi whimpered, trembling in the unrelenting grip of her attacker. A hand roughly forced her chin up, to stare into the face of a decidedly evil-looking man. An angry scar ran down the side of his round face, and his small dark eyes glittered under bushy brows.

"Let go of me!" Her fear turned to rage and hatred, and she struggled against the other man who was holding her, twisting her face away from the man in front of her. 

He snickered. "She's a feisty one. I like 'em that way… Don't worry, if you're a good girl we won't hurt you."

His companion added, "Look at her clothes. She'll bring a good price."

"Leave her the hell alone!" Tasuki stood, helpless, raging, afraid to use the tessen for fear of burning Aiumi too.

"Watch it, boy, one wrong move and she's gone." He pressed a long, curved knife to her throat menacingly.

Aiumi took a shaky breath, knowing she'd have to save herself if she wanted to get out of this one. _C'mon, you can do this…_

She shoved her free elbow into the guy's gut, simultaneously shoving him backwards, away from the knife at her throat. She dropped to one knee, flipping the guy over her head and into the one with the knife. They skidded across the floor, flying though a wall with a sickening thud. 

"LEKKA…SHINEN!" The thugs screamed and ran into the night.

The bar fell silent. All eyes seemed to be on Aiumi and Tasuki. Someone yelled, and an angry mob, most of it very drunk, rushed angrily at them. "Uh-oh…"

They dropped to their hands and knees, crawling out of the now very confused crowd and slipping untrobusively out the door. 

"You alright?"

"Yeah, just a little…shaken up…"

Her voice trailed away, realizing how close he was to her…

He had seen her eyes in different moods, green-grey in fear, grey-blue in sadness, nearly purple in rage, but this clear ice-blue, so innocent, so trusting, was new to him. 

"Tasuki…" She collapsed into his arms, huddling like a scared child against his chest.

He held her close against him. _I will never, ever, EVER understand women…_ He glanced down at her face and smiled slightly…_but maybe that's okay…_

"There they are! Get 'em!" Someone inside the bar had spotted them, and the mob poured angrily out the doors. 

"Run!!!" Aiumi yelled, sprinting off into the distance.

Tasuki sweatdropped. "Why the hell did ya have to do that?? Why??" He screamed at the sky.

_Because I feel like it._

"Eh? Who was that?" Now the bandit was thoroughly confused.

"Come on!" Aiumi yanked him away from the drunken mob.

They tore through the ridiculously dark and narrow streets, the horde of people close behind. Turning corners, jumping over walls, nothing seemed to help them gain any ground. 

Droplets of water began to bounce off the ground around them. "Shit! It's raining!"

"Do you always have to state the obvious? Maybe this'll help us lose them!"

It did. The throng was out of sight in minutes. Panting, Aiumi managed to gasp out, "I think we lost them…"

"No!! Don't say that!!" Tasuki went nuts, knowing exactly what was going to happen next. 

The mob suddenly appeared on either side end of the street, boxing the two in. Tasuki face-faulted into a puddle.

Aiumi grabbed the spluttering Tasuki by the collar. "Move it, fang boy!" 

They skidded down an alleyway and toward the river, which was swollen with all the dramatic-effect rain. Their footsteps thudded hollowly across the long wooden bridge.

Tasuki's foot suddenly slid out from under him on a small pebble. Before he could stop himself, he had slid under the handrail on the bridge and fallen out into space, just managing to grab the edge with one hand. His feet dangled helplessly twenty feet above the rushing river. About then, his fingers started to slip.

"Tasuki!" Aiumi dove towards him just as he lost his grip. She just managed to catch his wrist before he plunged into the swirling water below.

Memories…flooding back into his mind…

How old had he been? Six? Eight? Six…

He had gotten in everybody's way that day, until Aidou had finally kicked him, literally, out of the house. He had pouted for awhile and headed out, with Aidou's final shout of "Mother says don't go near the river!" following him. So, of course, that's exactly where he went. 

The river was peaceful near the house, but the ground slowly sloped upward until the banks were veritable cliffs. The river was rougher here, too, sliding tempestuously around submerged rocks. A dusty path ran along the side, dangerously close to the edge. 

Tasuki trudged along slowly, kicking at pebbles in his path, hands jammed in pockets. 

A scrubby bush suddenly rustled, and he gasped, his eyes widening in fear. "Miow?" a tiny gray cat, too old to be a kitten, poked its head out querulously. 

He smiled in relief, and knelt down by the kitten, scratching playfully under its chin. It purred happily. 

"Will you be my friend?" The kitten mewed, as if in answer to the small boy. 

"Hey! Where are you going?" The kitten suddenly jumped up, and walked down the path, its tail stuck straight up in the air. It turned and looked at him, mewing happily. "Oh! Do you want me to follow you? Ok!"

He ran after the cat, not noticing the gradual increase in the steepness of the path. 

Suddenly, the cat disappeared. "Huh? Where'd you go?" He looked around, but there was nothing to be found. 

He took a step backwards, still searching the scrubby plants for the cat. 

The ground began to crumble beneath his small feet. The dry dirt suddenly collapsed, sending him tumbling backwards toward the rushing river…

Her feet scrabbled on the slippery wood, trying to brace herself against the bridge railing so that she'd have a chance at pulling him up. 

He stared numbly at the water below, realizing that he hadn't a chance of rescue if he fell now.

The splintery wood cut into her free hand, drawing blood and also tears. Her grip on his wrist faltered ever so slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. 

He fell, screaming, down the cliff, the river rushing up to meet him. At the last second, his hand caught at a plant growing out of the cliffside. Unable to bear his weight for long, it began to break. 

"Aidou? Li'an? Mai? Somebody help me!!" He called frantically, hoping someone would hear. 

"Ototou? Where are you? What's wrong?" Li'an called back to him, figuring he was just being annoying. She walked toward his voice, toward…the river! No, it couldn't be! Afraid for a million reasons, she began to run. 

Tasuki grimaced. An angry tear rolled down his cheek, falling harmlessly into space. 

A movement in the shadows down the street caught his eye. Someone was coming. "Shit. We've got company."

"Maybe they'll help…" She looked up.

"Aiumi, watch out!"

An unseen hand grabbed her by the collar, jerking her backward. 

"NOO!" Both screamed simultaneously as she was forced to let go. 

She was slammed onto her back, staring into the faces of three more OEM(overly ecchi men). "That's right, nice and quiet, we'll just have a little fun…"

"Bastards! Get the fuck off of me!" She struggled against the one pinning her to the ground. She slammed her wrists to her sides, throwing him off balance, and flipped him into the other two. 

She jumped to her feet, frantically jumping over the bridge railing and diving into the river.

The current instantly took her, but she was a good swimmer and ducked under, searching for Tasuki. 

Even in the murky water, she spotted his fiery hair and swam toward him. Grabbing him by the collar, she pushed up toward the surface. 

Li'an slid to a halt on the path above, glimpsing her little brother's fiery red hair. "Shun-chan! Hang on!" 

"Li'an?"

She desperately reached a hand down to him, eyes widening with panic, knowing he couldn't swim.

As he reached toward her, the plant finally gave up and snapped. 

Everything was fuzzy from there. He dimly remembered being swept by the relentless river, finally being washed onto the banks. Aidou holding him, his sister's worried faces and voices. Mai, always so innocent, asking their mother if he'd be all right.

"So that's why…"

"Yeah."

They sat next to each other on the bank, dripping wet for the second time that day. Both stared at the river rushing past, fully aware of its power…

**End of Chapter Four**


	5. Chapter Five

**~Five~**

**In My Dreams I'm Dying All the Time**

He finished bandaging the lacerations on her palm, and traced the bruises on her wrist lightly. "I'm not as good at this as Mitsukake, but it'll do." 

He glanced up, and their eyes locked in silence for awhile. 

Aiumi smiled. "Thank you." 

"Well…goodnight."

"Goodnight."

He walked out, pausing shortly at the door and looking back as if he wanted to say something, but didn't. 

She sighed, undressing and tossing her clothes over a chair. She jumped gratefully into bed, falling asleep almost instantly. 

Light. All was light; pure, peaceful, friendly light.

She was somewhere strange, unfamiliar, but none of that seemed to matter. Serenity was all she felt, ethereal calm and peace with herself, content to remain where she was, admiring the light. 

She glanced at herself. She was wearing a beautiful robe of a filmy, soft ivory white material. The skirt fell delicately around her bare feet, slit to the waist on either side, trailing lightly on the floor. It rose smoothly to a high mandarin collar lined with silver braid, leaving her arms bare. Strips of silver silk, shimmering and fine as gossamer, fell from the waist. Her silvery-blond hair fell loose over her shoulders.

Had the tiger been there before? Or the bench? No matter. Something told her simply to accept it. 

The tiger was beautiful. Lithe, elegant, pure white with striking black stripes and clear blue eyes. She felt no fear of it, only admiration. 

She sat, and the tiger came to her. She stroked the shining fur, content, tranquil, never taking her eyes from it, totally focused. 

_But why?_ Her hand fell as the thought echoed, jarring the stillness. She glanced around her, almost panicked. There were other people in the room- no, not a room, only a space…an empty space. Girls, her own age, or nearly. And animals, too…a dragon, a tortoise…

_No, that doesn't matter. Only the tiger matters…_ It nosed her hand softly, and she smiled serenely. 

_Ow! Dammit…_ Tasuki fell flat onto something hard. He sat up, blinking in surprise. 

_What kind of half-assed dream is this?_ _There's nothing here!_ He frowned, glancing at the empty space above him.

He automatically checked for the tessen, and flipped out when he couldn't find it. Well, no wonder…he was wearing black robes with a red drape over his left shoulder, a bright red phoenix head emblazoned on the tunic.

Something wasn't right. Whatever kind of ground he was sitting on didn't feel solid. He flipped around to his hands and knees…

"GYAAH!" There was no ground! He could see right through it! 

Wait a minute…was he floating, or was the ceiling to the room below he was standing on just invisible? He jumped to his feet, testing the solidity. He could walk around normally, he just couldn't see what he was walking on.

He crossed his arms skeptically, concentrating more on what was in the room (was it a room?) below. In each corner, there stood animals, a tortoise, a tiger, a dragon, a phoenix…could it be? Suzaku? Byakko? Genbu? Seiryuu? 

He ran to the corner where the phoenix perched. Miaka? What was she doing here? Were all the mikos with their gods? 

Yep.

_Okay…so now what? I still say this dream is pretty stupid._ He walked back to the center of the ceiling.

And fell through a hole into the room below with a thud. 

He grimaced, grabbing his shoulder in pain, thinking things not lawful to be written here. 

She gasped as the man fell into the center of the room, landing heavily on his shoulder. The other girls glanced up, too, but quickly went back to simply not paying attention to anything but the animals they were with. As much as something told her to do the same, she jumped up and ran to help him. 

The atmosphere of the space he'd landed in was stifling. The extreme sense of calm and serenity overwhelmed him, stifling all emotion. The stabbing pain in his shoulder didn't seem important any more, neither did his embarrassing situation.

The noise of running feet made him turn his head… 

In her haste, her foot caught the hem of her skirt and she tumbled forward, landing…

Right on top of Tasuki.

She caught herself just in time, her palms slamming into the ground on either side of his head.

It was the third time he'd landed flat on his back in ten minutes, and his muscles were beginning to complain, but this time…maybe it was just the atmosphere, maybe it was the girl who had crashed into him…

Both of them blushed and jumped away from each other. "Gomen nasai…are you all right?" She gently touched the injured shoulder, checking to see if anything was amiss. She studied his face curiously. Had she known him before? He was certainly very handsome…

"It's nothing, just a bruise." He stood, and she stood with him, her hand still resting on his shoulder. 

A flicker of recognition flashed across his amber eyes. "Have we met before? Your face seems familiar…" He tilted her chin up toward his face, looking directly into her eyes…such familiar eyes…

A primal snarl echoed throughout the room. Suddenly, everything vanished, the stillness of the room broken, the atmosphere cold, cruel.

"Aiumi!"

"Tasuki!"

Their eyes widened in surprise, and they jumped away from each other in horror, blushing furiously.

"What in Suzaku's name are ya _wearing_?"

Her blush increased as she finally noticed her…ehm…less than modest dress. 

"I should be asking myself that…" she muttered, turning away.

"Get _back!_" He suddenly grabbed he by the shoulders, pulling her against him as something big sprang out of nowhere, huge claws just shredding the loose fabric of her skirt.

"Shit! What the fuck was tha…"

The tiger. Once so nice, so like a big kitten, was now snarling, raging, pure fury, fangs and claws glinting maliciously. 

"Kodora…" It spoke…that same voice that had pulled her into this world, had calmed her.

"Come, kodora…you do not belong in Kounan, come to Sailou, my country…you must come to me…"

"Wh-what?" She whimpered, suddenly imagining what it would be like to feel those fangs meeting in her throat.

"You are my miko, my priestess…I must awaken, and you must help me."

"Why should she?" Tasuki barked.

"SILENCE! Lowly Suzaku seishi…get away, I have no use for you…" The tiger roared, and a blast of energy hit Tasuki, throwing him backwards.

She was instantly at his side, helping him to stand, seeing the rage in his expression. 

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" She was screaming, hysteric, anger burning inside of her.

"You do not recognize your god? I am Byakko, and you are my priestess…I am the reason you exist in this world…DO NOT DISOBEY ME!" 

"No! I won't leave…you can't make me! I won't be your miko, even if you are a god, do you hear me? NO! Leave me alone!!" 

"Foolish girl…you'll pay…" Again, the tiger's roar came, deafening, earth-shattering. She knew the energy force would kill her…she just wasn't strong enough. But the blast never came, only a dull thud as Tasuki crumpled to the ground in front of her. 

"Tasuki…you…you…" He said nothing, only smiled wanly, his eyes deadened, dull.

A sudden thought flashed into her mind. If this was a dream… "Tasuki…I'm sorry, but if this works…just wake me up, okay? I'm sorry…I'm sorry."

Biting her lip, she reluctantly reached backward…and slapped him as hard as she possibly could. 

Tasuki sat up, panting, the nightmare still fresh in his mind. Not bothering with a shirt, he raced out of the room, wondering, hoping he wasn't too late…

"Aiumi? AIUMI!!" He slammed the door open, frantic. She was still asleep, tossing and turning, whimpering slightly.

"Aiumi, wake up! Wake up!" He shook her slightly, then harder, getting desperate.

Her eyelids quivered, then opened, blinking groggily. She looked around, scared, not remembering where she was. Seeing Tasuki above her, she threw her arms around him, sobbing. Numbly, she realized all he'd done for her, even if it was only a dream…

**End of Chapter Five**


	6. Chapter Six

**~Six~**

**I Wish That I Could Be Back There, but I'm Right Here, Right Now**

Fluffy splashes of white, moving almost imperceptibly against the vibrant blue of the sky…no matter where she was, the clouds would always be the same. 

It was nice, just lying here on the grass, not thinking about anything that had happened yesterday, listening only to the twitter of the birds in the trees. It was almost like being back home…

She had come to accept that, wherever the hell she was, she wasn't going back to 21st century Japan anytime soon. She did fight a lot of things in life, but this was one that she just didn't feel like doing anything about. 

She turned her head to the side lazily, scanning the landscape for lack of anything better to do…nothing new, just Chiriko sitting on the grass a ways away, studying _again_, grass, trees, bushes, a little brown-and-white cat floating in the air…

"What the hell?" A…floating cat??? 

Suddenly alert, she scrambled backwards a few feet, wondering if she had fallen asleep and this was part of some surrealistic dream.

"Hi! Is Chiriko around, no da?"

Stunned, the first thing her brain told her to do was reply. "Uh…yeah. Who _are _you?"

"I could be asking you the same question, no da. Oh, and just for your information, I'm not really a talking, floating cat, na no da."

"Um…you're not?"

"Nope. Just a minute…"

The cat disappeared with a small *pop* and a few seconds later, a tall, blue-haired, fox-faced, smiling guy in monkish garb appeared with another *pop*. "See, no da?"

Chiriko glanced up from his studies, noticing that Aiumi seemed to be rather agitated about something. Tilting his head cutely to one side, he watched as Chichiri appeared, happy as ever, in front of her. 

He smiled, eyebrows perking up cutely, and stood up, cutely, and walked over to them, again, cutely.

"Chichiri, why have you come so suddenly?"

"Just thought I'd fill you in on everything that's been going on, no da!" 

"Um, sorry for interrupting, but why do you always say 'no da'?" Aiumi frowned in confusion.

"Idiosyncrasy, no da."

"Okay." 

"Anyway…Chiriko, I thought I should inform you that a ship from the Sailou territory attacked ours yesterday…we haven't exactly determined why, no da, but there wasn't any bad damage to the ship…Oh, hello, Tasuki!"

"Hi. What's up?"

Chichiri related his story to the bandit. 

"SAILOU?!?" He glanced at Aiumi in surprise. She nodded, nonplused.

"Wait a minute…ya don't remember? Byakko!"

Her eyebrows shot up, eyes widening in fear and remembrance. 

Chiriko frowned. "It's not often that I say this, but…I'm lost."

"Me too, no da." 

Aiumi smiled sheepishly. "It's a long story…"

"Go ahead, no da. I have time."

The sun was high overhead before the two finished their tale, what with Aiumi trying to tell the story and Tasuki constantly interrupting her and being whacked with various items pulled from mallet-space for his trouble. 

Chiriko was the first to speak. "Interesting…"

Tasuki deadpanned. "Okay…"

Chichiri queried, "But what would cause both of them to experience the same dream?"

Chiriko continued, "Some believe that the cause of two people having the same dream or being in each other's dreams is caused by falling asleep at exactly the same moment, or purely by the will of the gods…which I think I can safely say was not the case…"

"Or perhaps it was simply caused by their feelings for each other, no da." said Chichiri, with a classic Fox-Faced Monk Look 'O SD Thoughtfulness™.

"WHAT ARE YA INSINUATING?!?! I HATE GIRLS!!!!!" Tasuki screamed, sending the blue-haired monk into Terrified SD Mode™. Aiumi and Chiriko sweatdropped. 

"I'M SORRY!!! I just meant, that since you inadvertently saved her, no da, she might see you as someone who protects her…"

"WHAT?!" Now it was Aiumi's turn to grab the terrified monk by the shirt, glaring rabidly like some sort of wild animal. Chiriko's sweatdrop grew as he dragged her and Tasuki away from Chichiri. 

"Why in Suzaku's name would that make you _mad_, no da?"

Aiumi crossed her arms, both ticked off and a little embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I just kick ass."

"Okay…"

Chiriko sighed again. "Moving on…if Byakko desires Aiumi to be his miko, why was she transported to Kounan and not Sailou?"

"You did say that the tiger you saw in the library went back into the book first, no da."

"Well, I'm not really sure…I think so…"

"That might explain it, if the book was recently used to travel to Kounan, then Aiumi would be pulled to Kounan if she touched the book before the link between the worlds closed."

"Maybe. I think there's only one way to find out, no da."

"Taiitsu-kun?"

"Is that scary ol' sunbabake baba yer solution for everything? 

"It is rather a long distance away, Chichiri. It will take them some time to get there."

"Them?" Aiumi queried.

"You and Tasuki, of course! Speaking of time, I'm out of it! Bye, no da!"

And with another small *pop*, the monk was gone, leaving the other three blinking in confusion and surprise.

Aiumi perched on the branch of a tree, staring out across the water, sinking back into her disrupted reverie. As it was, it turned out that the reverie _liked_ being disrupted, and went into a temper tantrum. Aiumi fired the reverie and got a new one. 

"Aiumi!" Tasuki yelled up to her, not having any implication that she'd be bothered.

She yelped in surprise, falling off of the branch, directly on top of…I'm sorry, into Tasuki's arms. "Ow."

"Sorry."

"You'd better be." She dusted herself off, examining a nasty rip in her shirt. "Damn. Stupid flimsy material." She stalked off, totally ignoring Tasuki. 

She flopped onto her bed, fingering the frayed edges of the material, near tears. The realization that she might never get out of this place, might never go home again, was depressing, it really was. 

"Konnichiwa!" Tashima slid back the rice paper panel, smiling sweetly.

Aiumi blinked. A girl about her own age, albeit taller than she, wearing robes of royal red and gold, dark hair pulled gracefully back into a high bun, was standing in the doorway. 

"Can I get you anything?"

Aiumi couldn't help but smile a little, the other girl being so cheery. "Um…actually, I could use a new shirt…if it's not too much trouble."

"Oh, no trouble at all! Come with me!"

As it turned out, finding a new shirt _was_ a bit of a problem. The royal tailor just wasn't used to fitting young girls for anything but kimonos and various robes. The poor man tried his best, and Tashima giggled behind her hand at every particularly funny attempt. 

Aiumi sighed, the royal tailor sighed, and Tashima regained control of herself. "I'm sorry. This isn't working," Aiumi said.

"It's alright, we'll think of something! I happen to have a lot of practice doing this, serving the…lady…Nuriko." Tashima smiled reassuringly.

"Wait a moment! The lady Miaka dressed rather like you, there may be a suitable garment somewhere in her quarters!" Tashima was off, dragging Aiumi behind her. 

Tashima flung open the wardrobe as Aiumi glanced around her. The room was much like her own, maybe a little more sumptuous, but it certainly wasn't as clean. Various candy wrappers and manga novels littered the floor and were scattered across the bed. She picked one up, smirking at the idealistic romance story. _How silly. Like it ever really happens this way in real life…_

"Here we go!" Tashima triumphantly held up what was probably the only neatly pressed garment in the wardrobe. A simple white blouse, obviously part of a school uniform, something Aiumi was familiar with. She noticed some other uniform components strewn across the wardrobe's bottom, a basic brown vest, skirt, and jacket. She remembered wearing these and hating them, only a few years ago. Oh, well. It would have to do. 

She spun in front of the mirror, a sarcastic smile on her lips. It was better than nothing. A little small, and with a kind of rigid elegance, attempted to be made more casual by leaving the cuffs and top button undone. She smiled, fingering the pointy lapels. 

"It looks great!" Tashima grinned.

Aiumi couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing at herself, at how she'd gotten so worked up and homesick. "Thanks…no one would mind if I borrowed a couple of these, would they? I need some idealism in my life." She held up a couple of the mangas. 

"Go ahead!"

Tashima sat on a stone bench, gazing at her reflection in a decorative pond. Orange and white splotched Koi darted about in the shallow water. Smoothing a stray curl back from her forehead, she began to daydream…

In her mind's eye, a handsome boy joined her on the bench…a boy with long, rich purple hair pulled back into a thick braid. "Ryuuin…" 

Not Nuriko. Not Kourin. Ryuuin. 

She didn't care about Nuriko the dedicated Suzaku shichiseishi, all she knew was the little boy, her childhood friend, who had said he loved her…once…

Ryuuin's face suddenly faded away as her thoughts turned to other matters. She should tell him how she felt, it was silly to just _be_ there. 

As soon as he came back from Hokkan…

**End of Chapter Six**


	7. Chapter Seven

**~Chapter Seven~**

**Into the Great Wide Open, Under the Skies of Blue**

"Aiumi?"

"Mmh?" She blinked groggily, straightening up from where she'd fallen asleep on the grass. "What is it?"

"D'ya want ta go t' Mt. Taikyoku or not?"

"Where?"

Tasuki sweatdropped. 

After a few minutes of explanation, she nodded her head. "Okay. But why so suddenly?"

"Well…I…kinda wanted ta catch up with Chichiri and the others in Hokkan…I'm worried that they…I don't know…"

"Might not be all right without you?" 

"Exactly."

She raised her eyebrows with an 'You're not saying what you really mean but I understand anyway' expression. "All right, then."

And that was how they'd come to be wandering aimlessly along in the forest, traveling gradually toward the center of the four countries to the mountainous land viewable only to the pure of heart. 

It wasn't that bad to be out in the middle of the forest, sleeping under the stars, listening to the birds in the trees. 

They'd only brought one horse, and, as Aiumi usually chose to walk, Tasuki was endlessly bugging her in his 'I'm trying to be chivalrous but I won't admit it' way to switch him places. She'd refuse and tease him about how insufferably obvious he was being, only serving to make him angry, which was rather funny to watch. 

One early evening started much like any other, Aiumi lounging around, propped up against a broad tree trunk, sketching the view in front of her. Out of the few things she had with her from the modern world, her sketchbook was most treasured. 

As she glanced at the sun sinking rather low in the sky, she noticed Tasuki leaning against a nearby tree. 

Could that be the boy she'd been teasing only an hour before? He couldn't be capable of a look of such seriousness and strength as that, could he? 

She bit her lip uncertainly. Where had the Tasuki she knew gone? 

She suddenly saw him with an artist's eye, a scene just waiting to be captured forever on paper. 

Aiumi finished the last few details of the sketch, smiling contentedly. It was perfect. She glanced up to compare it with the real thing. 

He wasn't there. 

Glancing around in alarm, she spotted him standing right behind her, watching with impassive amusement. He smirked. 

She snapped the sketchbook closed, embarrassed, but he was too fast for her, snatching it away. 

"Come on, give it back…"

"Why? What don't ya want me ta see, huh?" he teased, glad to be on the other end for once.

"Please?" 

But he was already flipping through it. His expression slowly changed from sarcasm to amazement. Aiumi groaned, blushing furiously. 

He stopped on the one she'd just finished. That expression on his face…it was him, alright, but the look was like that of Hakurou…radiating wolfish energy, powerful, somber…a true leader and a true bandit. He'd never believed he could possibly hope to have that appearance. 

"Well, this is just…awkward." She kicked at a rock in disgust at herself. 

He silently handed it back to her, running his fingers through his hair thoughtfully. He suddenly grinned, and she smiled, a little bewildered as to his thought processes. Her bewilderment increased when he gave her a quick hug and walked away. 

A sudden feeling ripped through him. Pain…searing pain…and then emptiness. Something was wrong…someone's life force was weakening at an alarming rate.

Hotohori gasped, the hand mirror slipping from his hand, shattering into a million pieces.

Chiriko flinched, his eyes widening in fear and surprise.

Chichiri whirled in the direction the subliminal cry for help had come from, noticing Mitsukake and Tamahome do the same. "Nuriko…"

"Tamahome, protect Miaka. Mitsukake, see what you can do to help, if it's not too late. I'm going to get Chiriko. Tasuki'll find his way on his own."

"Tasuki, what's wrong?" He said nothing, jumping onto their horse and reaching down to her.

"Get on." His voice was quiet, but full of fierce determination and urgency. 

"Chichiri!" He jumped to his little feet. "What happened?"

"It's Nuriko…we have to get back there, but I can't take you through my kesa without everyone's help, no da."

"Dou-chan?" Akiame called, happy to be able to visit her little brother again so soon. 

"Akiame!" He ran up to her, his eyes grave with a seriousness beyond his years. "Akiame, we need your help!"

The man who had been talking to Doukun came up behind him, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder. "Who is this, Chiriko, no da?"

"Oh…Chichiri, this is my aneki, Akiame. Please, we need to get to Hokkan, and fast!"

"Dou-chan, slow down! What happened?"

"Something's happened to Nuriko-sama. Aneki, I know it's my duty as one of the Ou family to stay here, but it is my duty as a warrior of Suzaku to be with the others. Please, Aki-chan."

"Dou-chan, I'd do anything to help you, you know that." She smiled. "Let's go."

She clung to him for dear life, still not knowing where they were going or why they had to go so fast. 

_They galloped onward into the encroaching darkness, heading toward the northern empire of Hokkan…_

Keisuke frowned. Would Nuriko make it?

**End of Chapter Seven**


	8. Chapter Eight

**~Eight~**

**If You Just Stay Alive For Me**

A small bird twittered somewhere nearby. She groaned, pulled from sleep at an inopportune moment. 

She suddenly sat up, blinking in confusion. Where was she? 

Canvas tent walls sloped on either side of her, bright sunshine streaming in. The icy coldness of the air suddenly hit her. Shivering slightly, she crawled out into the daylight. 

Frigid gusts of wind cut through her thin blouse. With a small yelp, she jumped back into the tent in search of her jacket. 

Hugging herself to keep warm, she glanced around uncertainly. The entire place was deserted. There was nothing but snow, rock, and a few scrubby plants. She shivered, not because of the cold, but because of the fear beginning to surface in her mind. 

Hoofbeats pounded in the distance, coming to a halt nearly in front of her. 

"Aiumi?"

"Chiriko! Chichiri! What happened here? Where is everybody?"

"No time to explain, no da. Come on."

_Suzaku, great red phoenix, please…don't let Nuriko be…I can't even think it, no da. _The monk's footfalls broke the stillness. He removed his mask, his good eye glinting somberly. 

Miaka's hysteric sobs could be heard from far away. Aiumi raised an eyebrow in annoyance. Miaka and Tamahome stood off from the group, Miaka's face buried against Tamahome's chest, huge wails racking her form. He cradled her impassively, a stony expression of sorrow on his face. 

Tears streamed silently from Tasuki's amber eyes. How could this have happened? If he had been there…would Nuriko still be alive? 

Five minutes. If he had just been there five minutes earlier…how could this healing power be a gift, if he could never be there in time when it really mattered? 

Akiame bit her lip, a little scared. Who was this person that had died so suddenly? She instinctively pulled Dou-chan closer to her, feeling responsible for protecting him. 

She felt like she'd scream if no one did anything. It was all so confusing. Even Tasuki was crying. What should she do? "Tasuki?" 

It was little more than a whisper, barely audible, but he heard. He ripped his gaze away from Nuriko's face, so peaceful and happy even in death; to stare into her terrified gray eyes. 

The initial shock and despair had died away, leaving him an empty shell of a person. _Why, Suzaku? Haven't you taken enough from me already, no da?_

Everyone was so scared. Had they only just realized that being a seishi of Suzaku was no joke? That the job could quite possibly mark the end of their lives? He'd assumed they already knew this…but it _was_ humbling, seeing Nuriko…gone…forever. "Nuriko…we'll always remember you. Rest in peace, friend."

_Such was the epitaph of the first of the fallen, the first Suzaku seishi to—_

"NO!" Keisuke yelled, not realizing that half the library was staring at him. "It can't be…it can't…"

**End of Chapter Eight**


	9. Chapter Nine

**~Nine~**

**Still Learning Things I Ought to Know By Now**

If one's soul could be shattered into a million tiny pieces, then hers definitely was. She didn't realize that, in the mere week she'd been here, how much these people, this new world, had come to mean to her. But something had changed…and she was left alone in her bubble of loneliness while everyone around her grieved about someone she didn't even know. 

I just want a friend. Is that so much to ask? 

_Tasuki-your name means mountain fire. You lived up to it, in so many ways…_

A small choking sob rose in her throat as she watched her friend slip away, his lips, once always dancing with his quirky teasing smile, set in a grim line, his eyes, once so fiery and magnificent, dead with pain. 

She turned away, too deep in misery to watch any longer.

She felt lost, unwanted. Ototou was caught up in the death of his fellow shichiseishi, forgetful of his older sister. But she couldn't just leave him alone, unprotected, in this barren wasteland. 

Maybe a walk would clear her jumbled, nebulous thoughts a little. 

She strolled aimlessly through the stunted mountain chaparral, mindless of the biting cold. A short distance away, a small creek ran, the noise of the water clattering over the rocky streambed wiping away all other sound. 

The creek broadened, becoming a stream, almost a veritable river. It eventually dropped off a miniature waterfall, a cliff perhaps ten feet high. She paused, letting her thoughts and worries slip away as easily as the crystal water slid over the rock. 

A slight noise off to her left caught her attention. 

He hadn't planned on any intrusion, anyone finding him in so remote a spot. But it was too late, his mind was diverted from the serene clarity of meditation. He was suddenly reminded of when Amiboshi had still been with them; when, one night, the boy was playing a delicately sweet song on his flute, the notes soaring and pulsating through the cool night air, only to be interrupted…by Nuriko. _If only we had listened, Nuriko-sama…you understood he wasn't what he seemed…_

She hadn't realized she'd disturbed him. Eyes wide with something akin to fear, she stood tensely, almost as if she wanted to melt into the background. Something about the monk was a little…intimidating, if you will. He was, for one, a guardian of Suzaku, not at all comparable to her little brother. She also didn't know a darn thing about him, except for that Dou-chan seemed to trust him.

"G-gomen. I'm sorry. I'll leave…" she stammered, a bit embarrassed.

He managed the smallest of smiles. "No, it's alright, Akiame. I could use someone to talk to, no da."

She instinctively knew it wasn't really all right, but he was so sweet about it, she couldn't help but join him. 

Silence achieved by years of experience reigned over his very soul. What he wouldn't give for a chance to be helped, not to have to be the eternal shoulder to cry on. 

Their conscious selves left behind for the moment, the two drifted like lonely asteroids; cold, self-contained worlds ever in danger of colliding with dangerous results. 

_I don't know what to do. Part of me is scared and sorry, wanting to know how it happened and what I can do to help and the other is glad  it wasn't Doukun! And I hate myself for that. I don't know what I'm doing here. I don't have any place in this._

_Will anything be the same after this? It seems impossible now, no da. You did always want us to see things exactly the way they were, Nuriko- ironic, isn't it? But why did you have to leave us like that, just to make us see that this isn't a game, that we've given away our very lives, if need be, to protect our miko? _

Akiame sobbed suddenly. "Why? _Why?_ It isn't fair…why did the universe pick Doukun?"  
His eyebrows jumped in surprise at her sudden outburst. He tentatively put a friendly hand on her shoulder, not sure how to deal with her sudden outburst. "Calm down, Akiame…"

"He's a child. A _child_. _He can't die like this!" _She jumped to her feet. "And you don't even _care_…"

The remark hit a nerve. Chichiri rose as well, angrily pulling away his mask, revealing the scar of nearly four years hence. The fox-face clattered to the ground as he grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her. 

She gasped. She'd never seen the monk without his trademark mask. 

One deep brown eye glittered angrily, and the other probably would have if it could. Unfortunately, a jagged scar, slicing across his eye and the bridge of his nose, covered it.

His voice was quiet, with an undercurrent of regret, but still forceful, calm. "I love your little brother as if he were my own. And...I swear to you that I will protect him. He cannot live behind you forever. He's found his place…"

"I'm hun-gry. Nuriko always co-oked…" Miaka's abnormally high-pitched, whiny, singsong voice sliced the stillness.

If she had been looking for a reaction, she certainly got one. Mitsukake visibly tensed, reaching instinctively for his confidante and best pal of a kitty. A spasm of pain flashed across Tasuki's face, bringing tears to his agonized eyes. He buried his face in his hands. The remark flew directly over Tamahome's head, and he continued to sit in ignorant bliss. 

And Aiumi…Aiumi totally snapped. It was enough that this girl was just naturally whiny and annoying, but did she HAVE to send everyone into deeper throes of despair? Especially Tasuki, who had already seemed as if he'd never smile again? Her brain promptly took a coffee break and left her emotions in control. 

"You…whiny…insensitive…tactless, annoying BITCH! HOW DARE YOU?!?" she screamed, yanking Miaka to her feet by the collar. "I am sick and fucking TIRED of your fucking WHINING! Are you even fucking SORRY about this?" 

Holding Miaka and inch off the ground by some feat of anger-fueled superhuman strength, Aiumi continued to scream at the terrified miko. Sill screaming all manner of curses, Aiumi tossed her as far as she could, throwing Miaka into a blubbering heap on top of one of the tents, whimpering all the while for Tamahome. 

Said Tamahome, like an obedient cocker spaniel, came trotting to said miko's aid, trying to hold Aiumi back and incurring her hellish wrath. 

"Get the FUCK away from me! What are you, some kind of puppet?" Tamahome suddenly found himself flat on his back due to a certain angry girl's lightning reflexes.

Aiumi ran her fingers through her hair, an angry grimace on her lips. She whirled, and walked quickly to a horse tethered nearby, jumping on and spurring it to a gallop with an almost vicious kick. 

It took a minute for the last few seconds to truly register in anyone's brain. But everyone noticed the dark, shadowy shape of horse and rider following hers stealthily toward the horizon.

The anger and hostility in their expressions quickly died away, leaving them rather surprised and embarrassed at their proximity to one another. Neither moved, unwilling to admit just how awkward the situation was. 

Chichiri was suddenly reminded of the clumsy silence after his proposal to Kouran, Akiame of her mother's reaction to her going against the family's tradition of attending a prestigious university. The poor woman had been stunned into actual silence, something very rare and to be savored.

"Aki-chan?" Chiriko called from somewhere not too far off. Akiame quickly kissed the stupefied monk on the cheek and hurried away, completely and utterly chagrined at what she'd gotten herself into. 

"AIUMI!" Tasuki's yell echoed over the rocks.

Mitsukake placed a silencing hand on his shoulder. "It's too late."

"What's wrong, na no da?" Chichiri appeared, apparently rather flustered about something. 

Tasuki shook his head, grimacing. He could feel his symbol burning scarlet through the fabric of his coat. Might as well put this seishi power to good use. He was off without a word, the speed granted him by the ancient gods much greater than that of a horse. 

She tumbled from the horse's back, landing on all fours on the mossy ground, sobbing silently. Dark thoughts wormed their way into the very corners of her mind. She wanted to get away from them, hurt them somehow. 

"Excuse me." The voice was deep, smooth as velvet, educated, noble. She brushed away her tears, turning to face it. 

"I couldn't help but notice your plight, young lady. Perhaps I could be of assistance? " His blue eyes glittered coldly, framed by long yellow-blond hair, a cloak that matched those eyes draped across his right shoulder. 

He extended a gentlemanly hand, helping her to her feet. "Who _are_ you?" she breathed, a tad distrustfully. 

"That matters little. All will be explained in time. Please, come with me."

"Nani? Wait!" she cried, as he jumped onto the back of his ebony steed. 

"Don't worry. Your horse will be fine, he'll find his way back. This is a matter of utmost importance."

She glanced back once, uncertainly, thinking she'd heard something screech in agony. She put it out of her mind, deciding she'd been mistaken. 

Behind their receding tracks, Aiumi's horse lay, its neck messily broken, blood pooling around the poor animal. The last flickers of icy blue chi faded like melting frost crystals, their destruction done. 

**~To Be Continued~**


	10. Chapter Ten

**~Ten~**

**All That Surrounds You are Secrets and Lies**

"Soi." His voice echoed over the deserted flagstone courtyard of what was, or had been, some sort of military base. 

"Yes, Lord Nakago?" Aiumi turned her head sharply, the woman appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"You've finished searching the premises for the remaining guards, I presume?"

"Hai, Nakago-sama. Just as you ordered."

"Very good. Please, attend to our…guest." Without another glance toward Aiumi, Nakago swept off conceitedly. 

Instantly, the once obliging and respectful young warrior became bitter and resentful, snapping a quick "Come with me," to Aiumi and leading her to a small, sparsely furnished room. She turned to leave quickly.

"Wait…what am I supposed to do here?"

"You're to remain here until Lord Nakago sends for you. Don't leave the room," came the curt reply. 

"Screw this. I'm getting out of here." Aiumi muttered, glancing about her surroundings. 

A once immobile shadow stirred to life, becoming a boy a bit younger than her. "I wouldn't do that if I were you…she's a bitch, but she means well…I think." 

"What the hell?" Aiumi SD'ed, edging away.

"Sorry if I scared you. I'm always doing that…" Suboshi's eyes drifted, staring into space with a sorrowful wistfulness. 

"Who are you?"

"Suboshi," he replied simply. "You're the Byakko no Miko, aren't you? Nakago was talking about you."

Aiumi kept her mouth shut, deciding to find out more before doing anything that could put herself in danger. "He-he was?"

"Yeah, something about allying with Sailou before Kounan could…I don't really know, he doesn't tell me much. I really should go, I'll see you later."

Aiumi spent most of the day pacing the small room…and most of the next…and…you really don't want to hear about how boring this was. Trust me.

Tasuki stared. His face ashen with shock, mouth hanging slightly open, eyes smoldering with fury, he hardly noticed Chichiri materialize a few feet away. Trying desperately to keep his temper in check, he studied the tracks around the horse's broken body, attempting to make some sense of them. 

Those smaller ones with the strange pattern were probably Aiumi's, she'd obviously gotten off the horse and…it looked like she'd walked a few feet and jumped onto another. Unfamiliar tracks rendezvoused with hers; larger, a pair of man's boots. Strange dragging imprints in the dust, almost like the tracks of a snake, circled them…a cape. 

"Chichiri. She's alive, and I think I know where she is. C'mon."

You had to admire his courage. It was obvious that Tasuki was under a lot of stress, as they all were, but he still tried to be calm. His eyes betrayed him, burning with an ungodly rage…and a glimmer of something else. The monk couldn't quite place it, but it was certainly familiar. 

He wordlessly pulled himself into his kasa, the conical hat flipping, empty, to the ground. 

Tasuki absently picked it up, fingering the rough straw, scrutinizing the direction of the receding hoof prints. The shoes were made in an odd style, placeable only with the Kouto blacksmiths. 

Aiumi sat, eyes rolled skyward, chin propped up by one fist, fingers drumming the tabletop rhythmically. "Bored…bored bored bored…bored bored bored bored bored…" She sighed. 

The door slid back, the sunset streaming in, Nakago's figure merely a silhouette against the glare. 

"The Lady Yui would like to speak with you. Follow me."

Aiumi found her nervousness dissolve at the sight of the other girl. Small and skinny, with short dirty-blond hair, wearing one of the now-too-familiar school uniforms. But her face conveyed an intelligence and cruel nobility beyond her years. An ingratiating smile graced her expression as she and Nakago entered. 

"Konbanwa, Lady Aiumi. Please, sit down."

"Oh…thank you."

"Nakago, we're in no danger here. You may go." The girl joined her at the table, her smile fading. 

"I trust you know why we're here, Lady Aiumi."

"Aiumi, please. Yes, I have a general idea of…why I'm here." She glanced away from the girl's piercing stare, feeling as if she was being interrogated. 

"Well, I'll be blunt. Kouto is in need of an alliance with your empire, and, if need be, the use of your military to aid us in this war against Kounan."

Aiumi's fingers twitched nervously, not prepared to make political decisions for a country she wasn't priestess of. "Lady- Yui, Sailou is a peaceful country, we have no wish to take sides in this…"

Yui's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "You haven't come to an agreement with the Priestess of Suzaku, have you? You _were_ with her party…"

"No! Not at all…" She sighed. "Yui, can we just please talk like normal teenagers and not government officials? I thought you were Miaka's best friend!"

Her lip curled into a spiteful sneer. "I was. But she was never mine. What kind of friend would leave you…to…to…" Tears glimmered at the corners of her eyes. "She betrayed me! She left me to die, do you hear me? To DIE! Would you call THAT friendship?!?" She was screaming now, hysteric. "I waited for three months…I almost killed myself, Aiumi, and when she finally came…she didn't even want to save me! It was all for her little boyfriend!"

"Wait! Slow down…"

"I loved him, Aiumi, and she took him from me…she's a selfish little brat who doesn't even care about her best friend- her ONLY friend- in the world!"

"Yui…"

"Look at me! She did this to me! Do you think I wanted to be the Priestess of Seiryuu? No!"

"Yui!" Aiumi stood, forcing the smaller girl to stare up at her. "Sit. Now."

Yui sat. 

"I have absolutely nothing against you, or Miaka, but I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear, either. Miaka is totally incapable of betraying anybody. She's too immature, too trusting, and too susceptible to selfless devotion. She's always going to consider you her best friend, no matter what you do to her. She's utterly clueless as to other people's feeling toward her. 

Furthermore, she's never had a boyfriend before Tamahome, of course she's going to cling to him! Yui, you can do a hell of a lot better than him. Suboshi's absolutely devoted to you, for one. And Tetsuya, too…" Aiumi stopped, blushing, knowing she'd said too much. 

"Tetsuya…Kajiwara?" 

Aiumi nodded sheepishly. "Forget I said anything, okay? He'll kill me if he finds out…"

"Oh my gosh…I- I never- he's so cute! Are you sure?"

Aiumi grinned evilly. "Absolutely. And I've always been partial to Keisuke myself…" 

"Well, sure, but…"

As the younger girl continued to chatter, Aiumi marveled at her quick change of personality. _Poor girl, they've forced her to grow up too fast…she's just a kid at heart…_

"Uh, Yui, it's getting kind of late…maybe we should go."

"Oh…certainly. We'll talk more in the morning. Nakago!"

"Yes, Lady Yui?" The blond shogun appeared as if from nowhere. 

"Show Lady Aiumi back to her room, please."

"Certainly."

They walked silently down the corridors, Aiumi smiling slightly to herself. 

"Lady Aiumi, would you care to walk on a little further? The sunsets in this part of the world are most exquisitely beautiful."

"All right, Nakago."

A verandah faced the westward plain in front of them, allowing a beautiful view of the last flickers of sunlight, dancing red, orange, and pink on the horizon. She tore her eyes away from the view, watching Nakago's cold impassive stare. 

His cold blue gaze shifted to her own eyes, a slight smirking smile forming on his lips. His voice however, was quiet and calm, if the familiar icy monotone. "Lady Aiumi, I'm afraid I haven't been strictly truthful to you…the truth is, I find you distinctly…enticing…" 

He leaned forward, placing a delicate kiss on her startled lips. 

Something shattered within her mind, something that had been preventing her from seeing the horrid truth about this place…these people. It was like being slapped awake from a happy dream, fingernails on a chalkboard interrupting the most beautiful song in the world. She pushed away from him desperately, resisting the urge to run for her life. 

"Nakago, stop. It's not right." 

He silently stepped toward an iron door in the complex, guiding her into the half-light within. He stopped a foot from the far wall, pulling her lightly around to face him. "Your answer is still no, then?"

She nodded almost imperceptibly, bewildered. 

"Then I'm afraid you've said no to the wrong person." The last word was spat with pure venom, his iron grip forcing her wrists against the stone wall, shackles clicking shut around them and her ankles. 

"How does it feel to be helpless, Lady Aiumi?" He smirked, tilting her chin upward with mock tenderness. "You'll get used to it, I'm sure." His kiss was fierce, relentless, totally and blatantly heartless. 

She wrenched away frantically. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Get away from me!" she screamed as loud as she possibly could, clinging to her last hope that someone would hear. 

Tasuki turned suspiciously, faintly hearing a voice from the abandoned fort. The kasa twitched in his hand, and Chichiri popped out, equally distrustful. 

She flattened against the wall, desperately trying to free one of her hands. "Stop it! Somebody help me, please!" Frightened tears streamed unchecked down her face. 

"Aiumi?" Tasuki's voice echoed over the empty grounds. "Where are ya? You okay?"

"Tasuki! Help me, I'm over he-" Her throat suddenly constricted, cutting off all sound, leaving her gasping for breath. Nakago, symbol burning violently, continued to cut off her voice. He gestured toward the door, the heavy wood beginning to close, creaking on its hinges. 

She powerlessly watched her only escape disappear. She turned away, not able to bear watching it bang shut. 

But the bang never came, only a jangling crunching clank as the doors slammed shut on something- something long and thin, topped with a gilded ornament that jingled metallically. 

"Don't just stand there, no da!" Chichiri jogged forward, his long slender fingers prying the doors open. He ducked a blast of blue chi, and Tasuki jumped another. He deftly parried Nakago's whiplashes as the younger man ran to Aiumi. 

"Gods…what did he do to you?" He quickly unlocked the manacles, pulling her away protectively. 

"Nothing…I'm all right. Tasuki, it was horrible, I was so scared…"

"It's alright, Aiumi…everything's going to be okay…" _I hope…_

The whip's iron sting missed him by inches, snaking around his staff, pulling back…and striking again. 

He didn't duck quite in time, he could feel the slash along the left side of his face, feel the blood beginning to trickle out from under his mask. He flung the useless mask aside, the stream of dark red liquid tracing down from just above his left temple. 

Tasuki was instantly at his side, a volley of fire erupting from the iron fan he carried, twisting around to envelop the shogun with a precision he'd never known it to have.

A furious eruption of blue chi blasted away the flames, but Tasuki's anger was channeling into a concentration, a focusing on controlling the tessen's flames to obey his every mental command. Dozens of softball-sized fireballs individually attacked Nakago, some deflected or absorbed by his protective barrier, others seeming to pelt the mercenary, only to turn to blue foxfire, homing missiles aimed right back at the bandit. 

Tasuki was caught in a dangerous cycle, blocking his own shots which only regenerated, losing one or two against the stone walls, fighting and dodging the projectiles which swarmed him like flies. 

One, and only one, connected. 

Instead of just a surface burn, Nakago's destructive energy ripped through his every nerve, consuming his life force in waves of torturing pain. 

Every surge sent him into deeper depths of agony, falling to his knees, still clutching desperately at his tessen. He refused to cry out, to betray his weakness and fear. Completely at Nakago's mercy, or rather Nakago's lack of it, one last escape was possible. 

"Chichiri…get…help…" With one last shuddering sigh, Tasuki lost consciousness. 

Silence fell. Chichiri's hat spun benignly on the ground, near where Tasuki's crumpled form lay. She gently pulled him back against the wall, hands shaking with frenzied wrath. She detached the tessen from his fingers, testing its surprising weight, the weathered grip fitting comfortably in her palm. 

He murmured slightly, as if in distress over being separated from it. His eyes fluttered back open, their amber depths holding a childlike innocence, unclouded by any emotion. 

"You need rest…don't worry about me…"

"Can't…help it…love you…" Unconsciousness overtook him again.

She stared in disbelief. He had to be delirious; he couldn't possibly realize what he was saying. A mirthless chuckle rang behind her. 

"How very…sentimental." Nakago's whip snapped taut in his hands. "I never wanted to hurt you, Priestess of Byakko, but you give me no choice…"

She straightened, still clutching Tasuki's tessen, her eyes flashing angrily. "I'm not the Byakko no Miko."

"What?" he snapped.

"I'm not…the Byakko…no Miko!" her voice was an inhuman snarl, rising to a near scream. 

Too many things happened at once. Her life force manifested, flickering white with flares of red, her eyes glowing amber for the merest second. Nakago's whip slashed out, striking a severe blow across her upper arm, slicing diagonally through her shirt, down her arm and side. Blood flowed freely from the wound, but she never flinched, moving eerily towards him. 

His whip strikes came faster and faster, tearing cloth to ribbons, leaving angry slashes oozing blood. Nothing seemed to hurt her. She was backing him into a corner, ever so slowly. 

"Stop, Aiumi! There's nothing you can do, no da." Chichiri was back, with Mitsukake in tow. She looked at him, unrecognizing, eyes glazed. 

_Tomo._

Chuin glanced up, smiling slightly, his face unhidden by the heavy stage makeup he always wore, his thick dark hair falling loose to his waist. 

His long fingers tightened around the small clamshell.

The ribbed metal pressed lightly against his throat. She smiled, seeing the fear in his eyes beneath his unruffled expression. 

"Lekka…shinen." The words were whispered, but the call for the raging flames went not unheeded. In her amateur hands, the blaze went unchecked, consuming Nakago's figure. 

She frowned. He still stood there, smirking, unharmed in the least. 

"Don't. It's an illusion, no da." He waved his staff, and the fake Nakago dispelled, leaving only empty air. 

The tessen fell with a metallic clink, and Aiumi beside it, bleeding freely from uncountable gashes. Mitsukake instinctively moved toward her, but someone else got there first. 

Tasuki cradled her in his arms, heedless of the blood smearing his hands, his clothes. 

"If…I have to die…I'm glad…your face could be…the last thing…I see…Tasuki…" She smiled serenely, her eyes sliding closed. 

"She's not breathing." Mitsukake's bass voice rang hollowly in the empty room. "But her pulse is fine." The symbol of Sadness glowing on his palm, he directed his healing energies toward the girl. With a shaky sigh, she recommenced breathing, pulled out of danger by the healer's powers. 

"You had better get both of them to Mt. Taikyoku, Chichiri." 

"Yes…I think both of you can go through my kasa, no da…" The monk helped Tasuki to his feet, the bandit still holding Aiumi. 

He glanced up at his friends one last time before pulling the magical hat down over himself, his magnificent eyes holding a world of thanks, not only for himself, but for the small form without a voice of her own at the moment. 

Chichiri suddenly realized what that look in his friend's eyes was as Tasuki glanced down at Aiumi before disappearing into the hat's magic portal. 

And I'll leave you to guess what it was.

**End of Chapter Ten**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**~Eleven~**

**Scared That I'll Never Get Put Back Together**

She reluctantly awoke, keeping her eyes closed for the time being, enjoying the last wisps of a pleasant dream. Tasuki stirred awake beside her. 

Both smiled, pleasantly oblivious to their current situation. 

"Hey."

"Y' okay?"

"I'm not dead, I guess so. You remember what happened?"

"'S fuzzy…"

"Yeah…"

A pause. Aiumi took the time to fully wake up.

"You realize we're completely naked and in bed together?"

"Um…kinda."

"I'm going to scream now."

"I think I'll join ya…"

Chichiri sighed as his friends outraged screams echoed through the halls. 

"Fix, fix! Heal, heal!" The masses of Nyan-nyan swarmed toward their room, eager to heal the extreme embarrassment coming from it. He idly popped a couple floating around in bubble form, causing them to squeak in alarm and fall to the ground. 

"Chichiri!" Taiitsu-kun chided. 

"I'll heal your annoyance!" one Nyan-nyan smiled.

"And I'll heal Taiitsu-kun's!" said another.

Chichiri sighed again. "Let me take care of this, Nyan-nyan, no da."

"Kill, kill! Die, die!"

"What, no da?"

"Um…fix, fix, cure, cure?"

Muttering something about psychotic pixies, Chichiri cleared the little green haired girls out of his way and entered the room. He was met with death glares. 

"Was this at all necessary?!?" Aiumi sniped. 

"I have absolutely no idea, no da. Ask Taiitsu-kun."

Aiumi blinked. "Taiitsu-kun? Isn't she-"

She was cut off in mid-sentence as the aged priestess apparated into the room. Tasuki face-faulted onto the floor. 

"Hey! Stop hogging the sheet! We only have one!" Aiumi, who had remained completely unfazed by Taiitsu-kun's appearance, continued to yell at Tasuki. 

"I'd say something about them acting like an old married couple, only Aiumi'd probably kill me, no da…"

"Care to repeat that last comment, kitsune?"

"Ahem! Now that we're all healthily angry at each other…Nyan-nyan! Fetch something for our guests to wear!"

"Now then…would you two please _grow up_?" 

"I will when _he_ does." Aiumi, still blushing furiously, defiantly turned her back on everyone in the immediate vicinity. 

"I think I liked you two better when you were asleep, na no da." Chichiri sighed softly, his thoughts turning to other matters. "Taiitsu-kun…there is something I need to take care of…elsewhere, no da. Is that alright?"

"I think that's a wise idea, Chichiri…good luck…" The wise old woman's eyes saw beyond Chichiri's vague, bashful exterior. 

The monk was out of sight in a mere moment, his thoughts preoccupied with the inner confusion of his emotions. 

****

"Aki-chan, why do you have to leave? Why are you so sad?"

"You'll understand someday, Dou-chan…hopefully, you'll never have to understand…" She held him gently at arm's length, fighting tears. How could she have been so stupid, letting her emotions take control like that? She couldn't stay here with that hanging over her head. And now…she had nowhere to run, but, all the same, she had to run. 

"I love you, Dou-chan, and that's all that matters. I'd never do anything to hurt you." 

"I love you too, aneki…" He hugged her tightly, clinging to her hand as long as he could, even as she jumped onto her horse. 

Her tears started just as he was out of sight, glittering like crystal as they fell harmlessly to the snowy ground. 

She rode all through the day, the feeling of loneliness and sense of loss growing in her heart with every step. She halted slightly at a mountain pass, able to see down into the desert and oasi of Sailou and even across the ocean to the plains of Kounan. Hesitating no longer, she entered the silent forests. 

Dusk overtook her at a clear mountain spring deep in the midst of the trees. She silently tethered her horse, talking to it softly. 

"I envy you, y'know that? I really do." She gently patted its velvety nose, smiling at the perpetual look of mild understanding in its hazel eyes. 

****

"Hello, Chichiri." The little boy's voice was quiet, rather sad. Chichiri gave him a comforting hug. 

"Do you know where Akiame might be, no da?"

"She left a few hours ago…Chichiri, she's sad about something but she wouldn't tell me what it was. She'd _never_ act like that without a good reason…is something wrong? Do you know?" His big green eyes wide and pleading, Chiriko looked younger and smaller than ever. 

Chichiri held him tighter, frowning worriedly. "I'm not sure, Chiriko…but I'm going to find out. I promise you that, na no da."

"Thank you, Chichiri…" 

Tama-neko bounced past, jumping at a moth and landing on its nose when it missed. It playfully pounced on Chiriko's foot, eager to bring down some prey in its mischievous hunt. Chichiri scooped up the little cat, placing it in Chiriko's hands. 

"He'll keep you company until I get back, no da." Chichiri tucked his mask away in his sash, trying desperately to locate Akiame's presence. 

****

She sat on the mossy ground, hugging her knees for comfort. 

_I do love him. I can't get away from that._

_But how can I call that love? I hardly even know him._

_If only I hadn't kissed him. Maybe everything would be all right. _

_Look what this has done to me. I left Doukun alone because of him. _

_I won't choose between him and Doukun. I won't. I have to keep Doukun out of this. _

_If this is love, then love is one of the most overrated emotions in the world. _

A sigh escaped her lips. "And yet, I love him…"

She stood, completely lost, forlorn. "I just want someone to hold onto…" The horse nosed her hand, looking for a treat. 

Running her hand along its neck, she turned absently away. She placed the palms of her hands against the rough bark of a tree, and sadly rested her forehead against the cool stolidity, closing her eyes.

****

Wishing with all her might, she could almost imagine his arms around her, that this inanimate hunk of wood she leaned against was Chichiri. 

Never minding exactly how it had happened, he held her against him, not daring to move and disturb her thoughts. 

She sheepishly put her girlish daydreams out of her head, shaking away the almost believable illusion she'd created- only to find that it wouldn't go away. Opening her eyes, she desperately tried to convince herself it was true, not daring to look up in case it really wasn't. 

He delicately traced the backs of his fingers along her cheek, causing her to look up at him, her brown eyes half-terrified, half elated. 

Their lips brushed in a fluttering kiss, bashful and yet sweet in its timidity. She looked away, eyes closed, a flicker of color dancing across her face. "I'm sorry…"

"It's all right…I love you, Akiame…" He softly kissed her eyelids, his arms holding her steady. He was so perfect, so balanced and in control of himself…and yet…

Aiumi could feel her tension melt away, the warm water soothing away all muscle pain. She opened her eyes, frowning slightly, sighed, and coughed. Maybe there was a little too much steam in here. She shrugged it off, hopping out of the bath, wrapping a towel around herself, and walked over to a window. 

Try as she might, she was just too darned short to reach. A Nyan-nyan, one or two of which was always floating around the place, hopped up to do it for her. Another, smiling sweetly, declared, "I'll fix your inadequate height!"

She smiled sarcastically. "Very funny. I'm not in the greatest of moods for jokes."  
Yet another Nyan-nyan appeared. "I'll cure your bad attitude!"  
"I don't appreciate this, chibi-demon."  
"I'll heal your small-mindedness!"  
"Do you want me to drop-kick you?"

"I'll fix your inclination toward barbaric violence!" Aiumi suddenly found herself surrounded with small chanting elf-girls. 

Taiitsu-kun's eyebrows raised in surprise as several of her Nyan-nyan flew, squeaking in fear, through the adjoining wall. Aiumi followed them, albeit through the more conventional means of the door, absolutely seething with unholy fury. 

"Whose sick idea was it to have these hell pixies all over the place?" The priestess's glare met hers like two thunderstorms clashing for position. 

"I'll heal your-" The Nyan-nyan squealed in alarm as Aiumi slammed it against a wall with a snarl, pinning it there single-handedly. 

"Shut UP! Can't you say anything ELSE?" The healer fae squirmed to no avail. 

A hand caught roughly at her shoulder, spinning her around. The Nyan-nyan squealed yet again as it slid to the floor, catching itself and floating quickly away in its protective pink bubble. 

Aiumi didn't care. Too stunned to be embarrassed, Tasuki's face held her mesmerized. His eyes glittered fiercely, ordering her silently to calm down, but betrayed hidden tears of only minutes earlier. 

She tore away from his gaze, shaking her head dismally. Dejected footsteps trailed behind her as she slowly exited. 

"Oh, Tamahome, I was _so_ scared…and Nuriko came back to protect me! Isn't that wonderful?" Miaka simpered, hanging onto Tamahome's arm. "And now all we need to do is to get the other Shinzaho from Sailou and then--!" The girl babbled on, much to the discomfort of the other three Suzaku seishi and Akiame. 

Miaka yawned and stretched, the gilded necklace swinging in her fist. "Wow…being frozen really takes all the energy out of you, huh, Tama-??" A snarl cut her short, a lithe, scrawny wolf snatching the glittering pendant away. "No!"

The miko's eyes widened, sickeningly. "It's…it's Ashitare!"

"Actually, it doesn't look much like him, no da. He was kind of a darker shade of gray, and this one doesn't have a scar over his right eye…" 

A second wolf sprang on top of the first, wrestling it to the ground, fangs embedded in its throat. It soon stepped back, clutching the Shinzaho in its teeth, muzzle wet with blood.

"Déjà vu, no da!"

"Okay, this time I'm pretty sure it's Ashitare," Miaka stated. Suddenly, she blinked. The wolf had run off, taking her prize with it. "Wait! Come baaack!" 

_How could you, my love? How could you be so cruel as to kill a fellow soldier of Seiryuu? He isn't a mere animal, you yourself said he was half human. _Soi never cried, as a rule; one she found herself dangerously close to breaking. 

"Soi. Something's bothering you." Curse that painted freak. Why did he have to be so damned perceptive?

"You wouldn't understand."

"You'd be surprised at what I understand." She remained silent. "Well, once a stubborn little harlot, always a stubborn little harlot, I suppose."

"Once a jealous painted freak, always a jealous painted freak," she retorted.

Tomo cackled quietly. He snapped his fingers, the noise ringing like a gunshot. Ashitare padded quietly out from the snow-laden bushes. "You can only believe half of what you see, Soi…"

"Demo…"

"Real Shinzaho, illusion wolf. Ashitare will be useful, but you can never tell Nakago…no matter what he does to you." His face twisted with jealousy momentarily.

"Ecchi. I don't know whether to kill you or kiss you."

"Neither, please. I have other business to attend to." Tomo walked slowly away.

"Tomo?" She sank to her knees, petting Ashitare's iron grey fur.

"Hai?"

"Arigato…" 

Tasuki quietly opened the door and sat on the edge of his bed, feeling old, empty, done with adventures. Nuriko was dead. Nuriko was dead, and Tasuki could have been dead, too. 

As if that weren't enough, things were kind of…awkward between Aiumi and he, for reasons neither remembered nor understood. _I should go talk t' her, _he thought, but failed to move. 

He couldn't get his mind off of either of them. _Damn women._ _Oh, wait._ _Nevermind. _He smiled momentarily. _This sucks. Kouji'd know what to do…_ And he did too, for that matter. "I need a fuckin' drink…"

"What's wrong?" Aiumi leaned against the doorway, looking small and sad. He blushed, an immediately wondered why.

"I- nothin', it doesn't mater…" Again, he marveled at his sudden lack of coherency. 

"Why were you crying?" 

"It…I wasn't." 

"Oh…I'm sorry, it was stupid of me…I'll leave…" She turned, but he spontaneously darted out and grabbed her wrist. 

"Aiumi, stop it. Yer actin' all…weird."

She wouldn't look at him. "It's nothing. Just the rain, I get all depressed."

A few silent seconds passed, and when he spoke again, his voice was little more than a murmur. "It's 'cause you almost died, isn't it?" 

She winced. "Ch'…c'mere…" Trembling violently, she allowed herself to be pulled in, her arms around his shoulders. "Gomen ne…didn't mean t'make ya cry." 

"You don't know what it was like," Aiumi whispered. "He would've…guess I've got to face it sometime…" 

She tried to turn away, only to be yanked right back. "Get back here, I'm not done huggin' you yet." She burst out laughing, and Tasuki grinned. 

"Thanks." 

"Anytime." They were as back to normal as possible at the moment. Tasuki sat back on the bed, and Aiumi turned to the window. 

"We'd better get some rest. Don't worry about me, I think I'll be okay."

_I can't help it._ The uninvited thought flashed through his mind, instantly wiping the smile off his face. He remembered. 

_Great red fuckin' phoenix… _Fright widened his eyes, snatched his breath away. Moonlight engulfed the room, outlining Aiumi in silver and tingeing her with a strange wraithlike shimmer. _I…love her… _The total gravity, absurdity, _truth _of the thought stunned him, made him forget to breathe. _Wait…why the hell did I forget?_

"Why're you staring at me like that?" Absently, she brushed a few stray strands of hair away from her face. 

"I remembered somethin'…" 

Fright froze her at the strange look on his face, the wolfishness of his smile. _Please don't do this…I don't think I can take it…_ "N-nani desu ka?" she managed to gasp. 

Their eyes locked, a heartbeat apart. "Ai shiteru," he whispered, and kissed her.

**End of Chapter Eleven**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**~Chapter Twelve~**

**The Lie That We Believe**

_"No, Chichiri…don't," she objected suddenly, pulling away and turning her back on him._

_"What…?"_

_"I'm sorry…gods, I'm so sorry, Chichiri, but I…"_

_She dissolved into tears._

_"It's alright…gomen nasai," he amended._

Remembering was almost a physical pain. And the migraine he had didn't help. _Idiot. Had to go and make a complete fool out of yourself, didn't you? She won't even look at you now. _

At least she didn't have to. The heat had scattered them like so many grains of sand. No one really knew where Miaka had gone after running after Ashitare, or how Tamahome was faring in running after Miaka. 

Chichiri buried his face in his hands for a moment, then, with an almost forced casualness, got up and walked away from their camp. 

For a few blessed minutes all he knew was the sleepy heat of the afternoon sun, the flicker of light and shadow the oasis trees provided, the soft _swish_ of the tall dune grass in the breeze and against the fabric of his pants. 

And then he nearly tripped over something.

Or rather, someone. 

Akiame lay innocently in the shade, all but hidden from view. He froze, hardly daring even to breathe. 

Sleep erased the cares and worries of responsibility from her face, her resemblance to her little brother now striking. _I love you._

_You don't deserve her. _

_That doesn't mean I can't love her. _

Moving silently, fluidly, as a cat would, Chichiri knelt beside her. He tentatively reached out to stroke her hair; halted an inch away; drew back. 

A bird trilled from a branch above their heads. Chichiri started in surprise, looking up. 

The bird was crying, tears as big as hailstones splashing on the sandy ground. Its plumed tail fell three feet toward the ground, a scarlet droop conveying immense sadness. A phoenix, big as the one in solid gold within the emperor's palace. 

The rain of tears slowed to a halt, and the bird turned its head to stare into the sun, craning its long neck. It blinked once, slowly, and with a low screech burst into flame. 

Its immense wings flared, each feather tipped with fire. The phoenix stretched, shook its wings as if it wanted to shake them away altogether, and a rain of burning scarlet down fell around Chichiri, encircling him. 

The bird writhed in pain, and in a final explosion of feathers and smoke, disappeared. 

Chichiri stared as a plume lit upon the back of his outstretched hand, curling into harmless ash as fire consumed it. 

He blinked once, and smoke began to sting his eyes; fill his lungs and make him cough. A benignly floating feather suddenly straightened its course and abruptly changed velocity, slashing down his cheek. 

He jerked awake. Somehow, he'd fallen asleep next to Akiame. 

Opening his eye fully, a blush the scarlet of the dream-bird's feathers raced across his cheeks. His arms were wound securely around her waist, and he could feel the satin of her hair against his face. He dared not stir lest he disturb her sleep and compromise his position…at least, that's what he wanted to believe. 

_Gods, forgive me, but I refuse to move. _He smiled slightly. 

A sudden sting of pain from his cheek caused his fingers to find the fresh blood welling from a cut; definitely not only a thing of dreams. Querulously, he reached back, his hand closing around an arrow embedded only inches from his head. Too late, he realized that they were surrounded by a dancing ring of fire. 

Panic rose in his heart, leaving him gasping like a frog for breath and allowing smoke to sting his lungs. "Akiame!"

She sat up abruptly with a small yelp, and almost instantly began to cough. "What the-" 

_Not the lightning again, not Soi, please…_

"Chichiri, what's going on?" Her voice was strained with smoke and fear. 

"Hold on, no da!" He pulled her upright, quickly gathering his energy for a short teleportation spell. 

Out of harm's way for the time being, Akiame leaned sleepily against the monk's chest. "Thank y-" 

He put a finger to her lips, gazing grimly toward the horizon. "Not just yet. You might not have anything to thank me for when this is over."

And, indeed, and ominous cloud of dust was being kicked up, moving closer to them. 

"Where's Doukun?" 

"He's with Mitsukake. And we're between them and…whoever that is, no da."

The rider appeared as a black shadowy wraith galloping across the monotony of the desert. Slowly, a black-cloaked figure atop a horse became more apparent. Neither Chichiri nor Akiame moved a muscle, playing chameleon to no avail.

"Good afternoon." The voice was somewhat educated, although with a slightly hollow quality and almost mocking tone. "My name is Ryo Chuin." The speaker had pushed back his hood, but the raven's-wing shade of his hair made little difference. His face was pale, deathly pale; not sunburned and roughened as those of other desert-dwellers; long and bony, smooth of feature and high-cheekboned to the point of femininity. The sunken glint of honey-colored cat's eyes stared out at them, almost amused. "And I'm afraid you're tresspassing."

"We're just simple travelers, no da. Surely you wouldn't begrudge our horses a little water…"

"Don't play innocent with me, _Suzaku no Shichiseishi._ Surely _you _wouldn't begrudge a mercenary a small challenge…"

Akiame cut in. "We don't want any trouble." 

"Of course you don't. Unfortunately, it's my job to provide you with some." Their assailant cast an appraising glance at Akiame. "But you're not one of Suzaku's guardian's. What would your name be?" 

She did her best to hold his unnerving gaze. "Ou Akiame."

"Autumn rain, is it? It fits you well. I assure you, the pleasure is mine…" He placed a chivalrous kiss upon the back of her hand. Chichiri stammered and nearly choked, blushing furiously. 

Tomo cackled quietly, hidden in the branches of the tree the dream-phoenix had occupied. _So the mask has a weakness, ne? _

Akiame's eyes flashed indignantly. "What pleasure? You just threatened our lives." She snatched her hand away. 

_Nice, aren't we? I don't care for him much either. _The dashing doppelganger's sarcastic ways were becoming a bit exaggerated. _Let's cut to the chase, shall we?_

A small shriek escaped her as the stranger flicked a wrist and sent a thin blade snicking dangerously close to her abdomen. Chichiri pulled her away hastily, but no more attacks were forthcoming. 

The blade hung menacingly, glinting silver against the stranger's pitch black attire. The flat of the blades lay flush against the back of his fist. 

"I will not take such an insult lightly," he snarled. Shadows somehow pooled on his once-smooth features, his eyes a hollow, rabid yellow. A shake of his left wrist, and a matching blade slid out of his sleeve; a malign, misshapen sixth finger. "One or both of you will not live to see the sunset." And he waited. 

"Akiame, go back. Warn the others, get the horses." Chichiri's voice was nearly pleading. "I don't-"

"I'm not leaving you." She hadn't meant to be snappish, and it nearly broke her to see the flicker of pain in his expression. 

"Please. For all of us."

Anger boiled up inside of her. "I wasn't raised to be a coward," she spat, but her voice faltered.

"Akiame…" He stepped closer, so that she had to look up at him. She loathed the fact that she was in the position of helplessness, the damsel in distress. "Sometimes true bravery is knowing when to turn back, na no da." Did he even realize what he was doing to her?

"Damn it, Chichiri…!" She looked away, teeth gritting, fists clenched. Suddenly, inexorably, she burst into angry tears and ran. 

"I didn't mean…" Chichiri murmured, giving up the sentence for useless. His eyebrows knitted, giving his inscrutable fox-face a pitifully comic look. 

With a rustle light as that of feathers, Ryo moved to face him. It amazed Chichiri how avian the man seemed, with his head tilted curiously to one side, his eyes greedily pecking for grains of weakness and distress. 

"Now look what you've done. I'm disappointed in you," Ryo drawled, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Chichiri met his gaze until the sharp reflection of sunlight on his adversary's weapon drew his eyes to the knife entwined in his prayer beads, inches from his heart. 

But Ryo was speaking again. "What can a simple wandering taoist see in a silly little peasant girl, I wonder?" Chichiri's poker face remained set. "Do you think she loves you? Farm girls are extremely adept at playing with men's hearts. She's probably betrothed to someone already, if not married."

_Suzaku, give me strength…_

"The biggest lies are the ones we tell ourselves, Chichiri-_sama._" A sudden yank forward, and the necklace cord severed with a small snap, the blue and green globes the only rain the sand had felt in months; years perhaps. Chichiri watched them fall almost in suspended motion, the sunlight sending tiny rainbows splaying until the beads plopped unceremoniously to the ground. 

An instantaneous reaction, and Ryo fell back, gasping for breath denied him by a sudden blow to the abdomen. The rings on Chichiri's staff clinked hollowly. 

But for the identical clothing, he could have been faced by an entirely different person. The harmless monk, who had seemed fairly weak and small, was replaced by a warrior, mongoose-quick and toughened by an ugly scar that blotted out his left eye. Chichiri stood perfectly straight, his face a mask even though devoid of one. 

Something about the monk's tranquillity set Ryo's blood boiling, muscles tensing with rage. A strangled yell escaped him as he ran at Chichiri, fists flashing. 

Rather than take the full brunt of the attack, Chichiri sidestepped gracefully and attempted to sweep Ryo's feet out from under him. 

_Jump,_ Tomo silently willed the illusion. It did so neatly, whirling to attack the Suzaku seishi afresh. He'd done well with making this one controllable. 

The blades clacked dully against his staff, scarring the smooth surface. He stepped away as Ryo's attack grew more adamant; the man intently, almost insanely bent on his destruction. 

Chichiri repelled a blow aimed at his head, pushing his staff upward, held horizontally. The offending arm did not move; the other punched forward in an uppercut. He deflected it much the same as the first, and found his staff caught between the two blades, forcing on upward and one down. 

With a sudden burst of strength, he spun the staff propeller-wise. The knives detached, flinging harmlessly away. 

Ryo's arms fell uselessly to his sides, his jaw slack and breath rasping. Chichiri again straightened, waiting patiently. 

The silence was tangible in the thin desert air. The grating noise of Ryo's panting changed ever so slightly, becoming a regular rumble, and then a snarl one would have thought impossible for a human to emit. 

From somewhere within his loose black robes, the desert-dweller drew some semblance of weapon. At first it seemed to be a staff not unlike Chichiri's, until the long, curved blade on the end emerged, glinting metallic white in the sun. 

Fear shortened his breath; as the gaunt, white-skinned figure metamorphosed, dying and transforming from mortal to the Reaper himself. Its face was hidden; Its shoulders hunched forward and long white hands hooked into claws. But Its head was raising, and Chichiri's eyes were glued to it helplessly; knowing that, somehow, something unspeakable would happen if he met Its eyes, but unable to look away. 

Those eyes stared not at him, but through him, holding hollow, endless doom. 

And Death flew at him, swinging Its scythe with cold snarling calculation. 

Chichiri fought, desiring to keep his feet where they were at the moment, relying completely upon defense, guessing his adversary's next moves before they were made, staying one step ahead. But the heat had him in its talons, and he stumbled. 

A dull crack followed by dizzying pain somewhere in the vicinity of his forehead sent him spiraling into oblivion. Oblivion lasted just a few seconds, as a new crushing pain smashed down on his right arm. 

Stunned, bleeding from the head, unable to roll away, Chichiri watched as the scythe swung high above his attacker's head, sunlight on the metal blinding him, the blade making a particularly metallic shirr in the dry air. 

His life failed to flash before his eyes. Good.

Tomo frowned at the lack of fear in the Suzaku seishi's eye. Pain there was, paralyzed dullness, even confusion, but no terror. He did so want to see a little terror. Oh, well, maybe the next one would be better.

More quickly than it had risen, the scythe fell, point aimed right for Chichiri's heart. 

A thud.

An agonized scream.

Chichiri blinked. He pushed away the handle of the scythe, which had flung out of his attacker's hands and fallen harmlessly across his chest after Akiame had jumped out of nowhere and delivered a spinning kick to the back of Ryo's head. 

Straggling slowly to a sitting position, he pressed his fingers to the fresh blood on his already pretty well mangled face. 

Suddenly, he remembered that Akiame could probably use some help. 

Her skill in the martial arts was admirable for a girl from the world Chichiri was used to, amazing, even. Without the polish or bravado of, say, Tamahome, or Aiumi's insanity and lack of thought, she drove Ryo, who, without his scythe, appeared rather weak and bedraggled, stumbling backward. Doubtless, she was absolutely livid; he wouldn't have been surprised if she'd begun to scratch Ryo's eyes out. 

She deftly blocked a halfhearted swipe, snapping a high kick that sent him reeling backwards. 

In one motion, she swept his unsteady feet out from under him, snatched up a blade, his previous weapon, from the sand, and drove it through his heart with a small cry. 

The man writhed, the knife in his chest quivering as if his skewered heart was still attempting to beat. Akiame reeled backwards in horror. 

There was no blood. 

No scarlet stained the blade as Ryo groaned, rooted to the sand. 

The dying man convulsed with a scream, his spread-eagled form shrinking rapidly. An unseen wind stirred about him, his robes tearing and the shreds whipping in the air, accompanied by the unearthly scream of the damned. 

The horror lasted for only a few seconds. In its place, a small bird was left, black-feathered, eyes wide and shiny as black glass baubles, its beak open and neck bent brokenly, undoubtedly dead. The small feathered form was nearly hidden beneath the glinting metal of the blade, the only substantial part of their attacker left. 

Tomo cursed and quickly made his exit.

Akiame trembled, small whimpers issuing from her crouched form. A wild, lost hysteria invaded her eyes. 

_I wish I could let myself hold you. What would be the harm in that?_

Her hand scraped across the sand, a pale, fear-contorted spider groping for something not even she could name. 

One of the larger green beads from Chichiri's necklace fell into the path of her fingers. She snatched it up eagerly, as if the talisman had some magic to calm her, end her confusion. Feverishly, she gathered the other beads from the sand, feeling helpless, pointless. 

_These thought of mine only push me away from you, Akiame. So, excuse me for not thinking. I hope you'll understand._

He quickly pulled her to a standing position, the beads again scattering in her surprise, and kissed her softly. 

The universe and all its problems spun away for a few blessed seconds, leaving with her the simple realities of life; the reality of being in love with someone who loved you in return, and, more importantly, the reality of his arm around her waist and his hand brushing her hair away from her face. 

When he'd said he loved her, that had been just a grandiose fairy-tale, too good to be true. She'd made her decision then, although it hadn't felt like the right one. She understood now. 

The universe faded back into existence, and reluctantly she broke the embrace. "Goodbye, Chichiri," she whispered, kissing him lightly on the cheek. 

He watched Akiame walk slowly back toward camp. Again, the beads were removed from the sand, one by one. 

He did not follow her until the sun sank low on the horizon and the first of the night winds began to flit across the desert. 

'Sayonara', was, after all, forever. 

**~Ca est tout pour maintenant.~**

**~La Fini du Chapitre Douze~**


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**~Chapter Thirteen~   
Tears You Knew You'd Cry**

_  
Once upon a time, in a land of magic and romance, as well as a certain amount of mayhem and people hitting each other with pointy objects for no apparent reason, a prince was in love with a princess. Or maybe she was a perfectly normal person. What mattered was the unrequited love.   
The princess was intelligent, independent, and, hey, maybe even beautiful. At least on the outside. The turbulent terrors of the things that went 'round in her head would make you have no sympathy for her at all.   
The princess knew the prince quite well, and even considered him her friend, a very good friend at that. Whatever else she felt for him, she didn't know. Anyway, the princess did something stupid and got into a lot of trouble with the obligatory Evil Guy. The prince saved her, sort of. While he was doing so, he told her that he loved her.   
The princess received several nasty blows to the head and forgot all of this until the prince repeated it and kissed her.   
Unfortunately, the princess was from yet another faraway land, where the people were even nastier to each other and hit each other with super-effective-long-range deluxe pointy objects. Nevertheless, the princess was proud to call it home, and entertained the idea that she would one day get back there. She wanted to sit in front of a silly device called a computer and eat silly things like energy bars and gummy bears, which she was rather fond of. _

  
She shivered, although the room had suddenly grown uncomfortably warm.   
Crushed.   
Strong hands held hers against his chest.   
Smothered.   
Her heartbeat raced, quick and skittish as a jackrabbit.   
Melting.   
His arm curled comfortably around her, fingers gently brushing her hair.   
A ragdoll in his arms. 

  
It struck him how tiny she was; warm weight against his chest, unprotesting. Unlike herself. Aiumi would be small, but stubborn…would not be…_had_.   
She had become vague and frightened, because of his errors. He loved her…but now he wasn't so sure that love would make everything right again.   
And, as lightning flash and thunder grumble broke the silence, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was killing her. 

  
A million wiry spiders of panic scuttled under her skin; shuddering up her spine. Thought became optional as she ripped from the comfort and safety of Tasuki's arms.   
Their eyes met for a moment; hers hollow, dilated, and animal; his pained, confused. A garbled sort of sob escaped her as she turned and ran. 

  
"Yamete…" The word died as it was murmured. His eyes flashed. She _would_ understand…somehow, he'd make her… 

  
Scurrying through the warren of halls, Aiumi gasped and sobbed; half in anger with herself, half in loneliness and separation from everything she knew.   
Too late she realized the presence of the heavy wooden door to the outside, and she hit it at full speed with a crack she dimly realized was her head striking the wood.   
Dizzily, she dragged herself to her feet and removed the heavy bar locking the door, her bare feet scrabbling on the marble for purchase as she summoned all her strength to open it. She stubbornly pushed the knowledge that he could run much faster, that he would certainly catch her, out of her head.   
Raindrops slapped and stung at her bare face, arms, and legs, soaking her hair as she ran. The wooden bridge thudded and shuddered with her footsteps. A foot touched the grass on the other side just as another clap of thunder pealed, startling her. Momentum carried her forward, and she tasted metallic blood as she hit the grass with a squelch.   
Aiumi lay curled into a ball on the pavilion roof, trapped on this spire of a mountain, no way down from the peak visible. She gnawed a fingernail nervously, a throwback from when she was a little girl listening to her parents argue late at night. A sob caught in her throat. They would never know where she was. That didn't hurt as much as that they might not care.   
She'd been running since she was eight. Running from her warring parents to live with her sister. Running from her sister's hungry-eyed fiancee and her sister blind to his faults; staying out at all hours with whatever boyfriend she happened to have, who could get her into bars and help her forget. Running from boyfriends who only hurt her. Keisuke…she'd run from Keisuke, too sure he was like all the others, too afraid of what might happen. Too afraid to love anyone else.   
_Love is not gentle. Love will chew you up, spit you out, and leave you to die. She snuffled in self pity. And just when you think it's safe…you fall in love again. _  
She wanted to go home. No…she wanted to go somewhere else, just somewhere he couldn't find her, couldn't be impossibly wonderful and make her love him more.   
_Nothing is wonderful now.   
You've seen to that._ Something just behind her lungs twisted, and a banshee wail escaped her.   
He'll be back.   
_No. Not yet. I need more time, more TIME!_ She thought in a petulant whine. _Every time I don't stop to think, I get hurt.   
Maybe this time…   
…maybe you'll think too hard. Maybe you'll snap just a little more. Maybe you'll throw yourself off of a cliff. Maybe. _   
Without thinking, she slapped herself on the side of the head. Hard. "Shut up!" She blinked. "Ow." And then groaned, falling slack onto the roof. "Bleah."   
Looking up, lightning broke toothy grins across the sky, taunting her. _Aiumi…decide, Aiumi…make up your mind, you stupid little bitch…Aiumi…Aiumiiii… _  
"AIUMI!" Tasuki halted his sprint under the shelter of the pavilion, directly below her. "Dammit, where are ya-" His voice cracked with emotion as he moved out into the rain. The bandit tossed his head, shaking water from his hair. Aiumi stifled a sob. _I'm so stupid…so stupid stupid STUPID…_   
"Aiumi? Aiumi! I know you're out 'ere! C'mon…" A desperate smile fluttered across his face, and he chuckled. "Stop- stop jokin' around…I…" Tasuki's smile faded as he continued to view the empty space around the small mountaintop…so easy to fall from…or to jump…   
"God fuckin' DAMMIT!" he howled, falling to his knees. "Don't do this to me!!"   
_I'm sorry so sorry just don't look up just forget me don't be stupid just stop being so sexy and clueless and perfect…_   
"Please…" Tears rolled down his face, mixing with the rain. "I love you…please…I'm sorry; would ya just come back…I love you…"   
"Prove it." Trembling, she stood on the roof, clutching the metal spire in the center for balance.   
Tasuki choked, the fire relighting in his eyes, struggling somewhere between fury and joy. "-umi…" His voice cracked again, barely audible. 

  
Elusive balance thwarted her. One foot slipped precariously from the ridgepole; replaced itself with little trouble.   
The thunder was not so much a _sound_, was more a _force_, like a headache that wants very much to be a migraine but didn't quite make it through the prerequisite Migraine 101 course before sending snarls through your grey matter. It squeezed, so close above her as to banish all other sound.   
As the thunder squeezed, a single thought was wrung (behind and slightly to the side of her left temple): she was clutching the tallest, most convenient, and metallic lightning rod in the area for dear life. 

  
_If one jumps backward in fear just before lightning obliterates the area where one was just standing and one happens to be high upon a steeply angled roof, and if one is in the middle of another world with a stupid bandit-boy who doesn't seem to know what's happening and your name is Aiumi and you really don't want to die…_

  
She blacked out, mercifully and ironically, just before she hit the ground. 

  
Endless rain pelting her bare skin; a touch of silk to one cheek. 

  
Sweetness of the raindrops drifting to her lips, tangy blood and bile in her throat. 

  
A cinnamon she took to be dried leaves, pine, and crisp wood smoke, fresh in comparison to tobacco or oily mechanical smoke. 

  
Pattering rain, nearly drowning out the voice whispering…whispering… 

His head hurt. It was more comfortable to think in childish one-sentence observations; that is, if there was any need for thought.   
Tasuki held her with a sense of caution he didn't understand, as if she were a china doll that could fly to pieces any second. His free hand rose with a disembodied sort of non-feeling. Almost timidly, he rested his hand along her jawbone, his thumb wiping away raindrops and tracing once down her little rounded nose.   
"Wake up." It was the first thing he'd consciously spoken in several minutes.   
"Oi, Aiumi. Wake up." The regaining of his childish simplicities of speech followed consciousness.   
Aiumi did not wake, however, and it occurred to him to make sure that she was breathing.   
He didn't know how to go about this. Instead, he leaned over and kissed her.   
Nothing much happened. But, since nothing much is not necessarily bad, Tasuki repeated it several times, except with varying volumes of "Oi, wake up, would ya?" 

  
Aiumi twitched and groaned. She peevishly pawed at the rain beading on her skin, suddenly finding the unnecessary wetness as much to her liking as a cat likes being thrown into a bathtub full of water and scrubbed thoroughly.   
"You're an idiot, Tasuki."   
"Ne…what?"   
"We're sitting in the rain, and there's a nice, dry pavilion right over there."   
"Huh? Oh, yeah…" He grinned sheepishly. "Uh…"   
"Nevermind…it's kind of nice, I guess." Lightning shirred across sky, causing her to yelp in fear.   
"_Chotto hen_…kind of weird. I could have sworn for a minute there that I fell and you didn't catch me," she remarked with a little twitch of a smile.   
"'Course I caught ya. Don'cha trust me?" His eyes flashed in annoyance.   
"I'm not saying I don't trust you, dumbass, I said that I thought you didn't catch me!" she snipped.   
"_Do_ ya trust me?"   
"I…yeah…I do."   
"Sounds like you're just sayin' that 'cause I asked."   
"Why would it sound like that? Don't you trust me to tell you the truth?"   
"What the fuckin' hell is that supposed ta mean?"   
"What does it sound like it means?"   
Tasuki frowned. Aiumi scowled. They kissed.   
To Tasuki, she was fierce, wild, and the most confusing thing he'd ever seen. He also decided that kissing her was the single most interesting thing he was determined to do for the rest of his life.   
To Aiumi, there were the voices in her head finally telling her _Yes, this is right_ on top of the ones telling her hormones to go all wonky on top of the ones that had listened in judo class and told her that it would be so easy to get him in a kesa gatame chokehold.   
_Oh, hell. Stubborn capitulation is still capitulation._   
Both gasped for air eventually.   
"I love you…" Tasuki panted.   
"Oh yeah? Well, I love you, too!"   
"Fine!"   
"Fine!" she spat. The world swam a little in front of her eyes, and her muscles went limp. "Wow."   
"Heh…uh, wanna go inside?"   
"Okay…"   
A surprised little squeak escaped her as he got a better grip on her and stood up, holding her three feet off the ground.   
"Hey, I'm a big girl. I can walk."   
"Well…okay…"   
"I mean…well…if you want to…if I'm not too heavy, I mean…"   
"Nah."   
"I'm still opposed to it, but if you insist…"   
"I…" He paused slightly to adjust her weight, and his coat flopped away from where it hung around her shoulders. "...insist." She rearranged the coat, a bit fastidiously, and he grinned. She smiled, a little bit tentative.   
"Uh…I love you."   
"I love you, too."   
"Okay, let's go."   
"Okay." 

  
_And they lived…interestingly…ever after this chapter and onto the next, where the next period of happy ever after would be defined. The end…ish._


End file.
